Up is down, in is out, and Canada has come out with a sensible recommendation set for hijacking procedures (despite the reporter’s hysterical description).

The most dramatic proposal advises the government to adopt a public position of non-compliance with hijackers, a hardline stance that would force pilots to ignore terrorists’ demands even if it puts passengers at risk.

Currently, air crews are trained to negotiate with hijackers and acquiesce to their demands when passenger safety is threatened. The new approach recommended by the working group would instruct pilots to land the plane as quickly as possible, regardless of what hijackers are doing to passengers.

The new policy was recommended because the suicide hijackings in September dramatically changed the dynamics of airline terrorism. Since then, pilots have been working without any new instructions on how to deal with hijackers, although many vow to never give up control of the flight deck after having seen commercial airliners used to bring down the World Trade Center.

But non-compliance creates the horrifying scenario of pilots, locked in the cockpit, refusing to cede control of their aircraft even as hijackers torture or kill passengers in the cabin. It is also thought that, in some situations, firm non-compliance could escalate confrontations with hijackers who are not suicidal.

This, of course, assumes that the passengers will just sit by as greatly-outnumbered hijackers kill or torture them. This seems like an unrealistic scenario, post 911. At least, on American (the nationality, not the airline) aircraft. I suspect that ordinary Canadian citizens also have more spunk than this comment would give them credit for.

Hey, is there any constitutional reason that we can’t get a Canadian to replace Norm Mineta?