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American Morning

Unload Maneuver Could Fight Terrorists On Board Planes

Aired January 21, 2002 - 08:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Now, before September 11th, airline flight crews were told to cooperate with hijackers. Of course, we all know that. That was, of course, before suicide bombers turned four planes into flying bombs.

Since then, much of the attention has focused on keeping hijackers off commercial jets. Now, if the hijacker does manage to get on board a plane, in addition to the presence of armed sky marshals, the FAA is now urging both flight attendants and pilots to be proactive.

This morning, we're joined by an aviation instructor who trains pilots on getting out of dangerous situations. He's developed a controversial maneuver to repel suicide hijackers. A plan, he says, would have made a difference on September 11th.

Don Wylie, owner of Aviation Safety Training joins us from Houston and we'll be joined, in a moment, by Captain Chuck Michaelson, a retired airline pilot.

Don, let me ask you. Thanks very much for joining us this morning. Don, let me start with you. What is this maneuver?

DON WYLIE, OWNER, AVIATION SAFETY TRAINING: The maneuver is what is called a -- in aviation parlance -- an unload. The aircraft, if you were to watch it from a, say, a chase aircraft, or from the exterior, basically does this in real time. It's about a one or two second maneuver.

This is called an unload. And then back to here. Now, during this time, everybody who's not strapped in is weight -- well, everybody's weightless, but those not strapped in are going to be ejected, if you will, up into the overhead of the aircraft in this short period of time. And as we assert back to positive gee they are then pushed back on to the floor --

COOPER: You're in the cockpit now. What would it look like on the controls? What does a pilot do with the controls?

WYLIE: Good. Let me demonstrate that. We're at normal flight, normal power, we'd have our yoke at about this position here. The total maneuver, pretty much real time, is as follows. To push until things are floating in the cockpit, about that quick, and then back to one gee. The entire maneuver is about that long, during which time, the terrorist goes for quite a ride.

COOPER: Basically, the people in the plane become weightless. Is that correct?

WYLIE: That's affirmative. And, of course, the terrorist, to be effective, has got to be unstrapped. Hopefully, most passengers are -- in the matter of course, day to day -- are strapped in, and they, therefore are secure in the seat.

COOPER: Well, let me ask you. What does this do for everyone else in the plane as well? I mean, I know the pilots are strapped in. But the flight attendants? People wandering around. I mean, if the terrorist is weightless, everyone else is weightless. Is that correct?

WYLIE: That's true. Anybody who's not strapped in, is at risk. But we have to look at the alternatives. There may be some collateral damage. The point is, if things are going down in the rear of the aircraft, and with the idea of the bulkheaded doors, the TV camera looking aft, the pilots have some idea of when to do this. This is not a panacea maneuver. It's a tool in the tool box to be asserted at the correct time.

If we're looking at a camera, looking down the aisle, and we've got blood flowing, or things really going down, we want to then do this. We could actually watch the terrorist take his trip and put him back here --him or her back on the floor.

COOPER: All right. Want to bring in Chuck Michaelson, retired airline captain, who's outside the aircraft in Houston. Chuck, what do you think of this maneuver? Is this something you've tried? Obviously not in actual situations, but in practice?

CHUCK MICHAELSON, RETIRED AIRLINE PILOT: Yes. I've demonstrated this maneuver in some of our training flights. Any pilot can do this maneuver, it's not that difficult. You would probably want to do a little training before you did it, but it's not a difficult maneuver, and...

COOPER: How widely known is this maneuver among pilots today?

MICHAELSON: I can't answer that. It's probably something many pilots have considered. I certainly did when I was an active pilot -- an airline pilot. It's just another tool you can use to keep a hijacker away from your door.

COOPER: Don said this is something you want to use at the right time. As a pilot, what do you consider to be the right time?

MICHAELSON: Right before the hijacker approaches your cockpit door, if you want to keep him from that door, I realize the doors have been reinforced, but if you feel it would be better to keep him from the door, this would be one method of keeping him away from the door, and possibly prevent that F-16 from shooting you down.

COOPER: All right. Chuck Michaelson, retired airline captain, thanks very much. And Don Wylie, owner of Aviation Safety Training, thanks very much for being with us this morning.

MICHAELSON: You're welcome.

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