Armed Air Marshals

Just as we hear of the first shooting of a passenger by armed air marshals overseas (a justified one though by the sounds of it) the NZ Government announces a law change to allow armed air marshals on NZ flights.

I suspect this is the result of pressure from the US, rather than a plea from Air NZ cabin crew.

I recall one suggestion that the best way to stop hijacking of planes is not to have armed air marshals, but to arm all passengers. The suggestion was that as you board the plane you are given a pistol. But the pistol has only one bullet in it. So you know that if you try to hold up the plane, all the other passengers can shoot you, and you only have one shot.

I suspect the downside of such a policy will be if passengers start to have arguments with each other, they may turn lethal 🙂