We've all heard breathless press reports on what some airline passengers plan to do if suicidal hijackers manage once again to board a flight. But what can aerospace engineers do to foil future attempts to turn airliners into kamikaze guided missiles?

Locking the cockpit door might be all that's needed. The flight deck bulkhead should probably also be reinforced. But the September 11 hijackings have elicited various high-technology solutions as well. One idea that has received much attention would allow a remote operator on the ground to take charge of an airliner should terrorists with flight training get into the cockpit.

This article was originally published with the title Reseizing the Controls.

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