Junkyard Dog is on Face Book

Book

Book
Now available at www.lulu.com

Now you can buy my book: "Dealing With Danger -- Be Prepared, Aware and Decisive"

My Book, Dealing With Danger is now available at Lulu.com. Also available at Amazon.com price $15.95

Available from Barnes & Noble as an e-reader Nook book price $ 8.99

Available for download on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iBooks and on your computer with iTunes as an eReader book price $8.99
'dealing with danger: be prepared, aware and decisive' is Available on the iBookstore
It's an instructional book to show people how to develop a straightforward, but comprehensive mindset or mental attitude to be aware of their surroundings, make simple but effective plans, and know when to put them into action. You can read a preview of the book online. A lot of people say that we need to develop a warrior attitude, but that just doesn't work for everyone. In my book I'll show you, regardless of age, gender, background, physical ability, and especially attitude how to be better prepared to survive the bad events in life by becoming a junkyard dog. Just click here.


Retail price is $15.95 plus shipping & handling

SPECIAL OFFERS:

Monday, December 28, 2009

Dealing with Terrorist attacks on Commercial Aircraft

The Christmas day attack on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit by a passenger who ignited an incendiary device is an important reminder for all of us. If the passenger really is connected to Al Quaeda, as he claimed, it is another example of that organization's strategy to repeat it's attacks on a target until they are successful.

In 1993, Islamist terrorists lead by Ramzi Yousef detonated a bomb in the basement of the North Tower of the World Trade Center(WTC) in New York, killing six people and injuring 1,042. The attack was intended to bring down both towers, but failed. In 2001, however, the terrorists were back with a different method, crashing aircraft into the towers. As we know, this time they were successful.

On 22 December, 2001, Shoe Bomber Richard Reid attempted to ignite explosives aboard American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami. He was overpowered by passengers and crew and is now in jail.

In 2006, British authorities arrested three men accused of plotting to blow up at least seven trans-Atlantic airliners in one day over the Atlantic, by detonating liquid explosives.

This latest attempt on the Detroit-bound flight shows that Al Quaeda is still determined to bring down commercial aircraft. It also illustrates that they don't quite have the technology worked out yet, but as with the WTC bombing, they are persistent. It also shows that increased security at airports is important as a first line of defense to stop terrorists and explosives getting onto airplanes, but as in this latest case, cannot be relied upon to prevent every single attack.

The most important lesson we can all learn from this incident and others like it is that once an aircraft takes off, the only people who can save the crew and the passengers are the crew and the passengers. It doesn't matter how many F-16s are scrambled to escort the aircraft, those fighter pilots cannot take out the terrorists on the aircraft, they can only shoot the plane down before it can be crashed into a target on the ground. It is vital that when a passenger starts to act in a threatening manner, such as trying to ignite a bomb, the passengers and crew act immediately and decisively to take him down with overwhelming physical force.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, the people on board Flight 93 quickly came to this realization and fought to take control of the cockpit from the hijackers. Although they were not able to save their own lives, and the aircraft crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, their actions saved the lives of people at whatever place was intended as the fourth target for the terrorists on that fateful morning.

The key is to be Prepared, Aware, and Decisive. Prepare a simple plan before boarding the aircraft. When I board a plane, I make sure I'm wearing clothing that will allow me to fight effectively in the case of a hijacking, and will also enable me to escape in the event the aircraft has to make an emergency landing. For me, this means jeans and boots. It amazes me how many passengers I see wearing inappropriate footwear such as flip-flops; guys wearing shorts and women wearing dresses or tight skirts.

I also prepare by carrying my important papers: ticket, credit cards, money, passport, etc. on me, and not in my carry on bag. If we need to evacuate the airplane quickly, I want to just get up and go with the vital items in my pocket. I can always buy the other stuff later.

I stay aware of my surroundings, and I make a point of evaluating the passengers around me: Are they going to be of some help in a fight, or are they likely to cause trouble? The days of getting drunk on a flight are over. A drink is fine, but we need to be able to function effectively in an emergency.

If trouble does start, it does not pay to do nothing and hope someone else will step up and fix the problem. It's important to act decisively once the situation becomes obvious.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

John, great web sites, great perspective, very precise observations. But I would like to query your position on chopping and channeling your combat weapon. I even agree with your position on that, but I don't accept your premise on acceptable accuracy of a hand gun. You have to break down the accuracy potential of the system. Half for the shooter and half for the weapon. If you are capable of shooting a 4 inch group under stress, but your pistol is only capable of shooting a 4 inch group off a rest, then you have basically a minimum of an 8 inch capability. Since stopping your threat doesn't count unless you hit what you are aiming at and something important within, such as hydraulics, electrical system, cpu, or suspension, by having a pistol that will only do 4 inch groups, you just dropped your chances from 50/50 to about 1 in 12. So while your shooter is fine with a 4 inch stress pattern, your pistol should shoot "where you think", or at 7 yards, be able to shoot a hundred rounds into a quarter size group. You want to have all the error and luck space available to the shooter, and thus none available to the pistol. The more you allow your pistol, the less there is available to the shooter. Also, if you have a pistol that shoots 4 inch patterns off a rest, then you basically have a pistol that you will never be able to improve your skills with. Your brain compares your impact with the prepared position at trigger press. Like a tow missile, the more time you have behind the gun, the tighter your patterns get. Muscle memory starts to kick in at about 4500 reps. On the other hand, if you shoot one impact 2 inches left of where your brain planned, correct and hit the next one 3 inches right, you are not narrowing down the circular error probability of increasing accuracy, just tossing 50 cent pieces down the tube.

Stay on 'em, they can't stand the light.

John Higgs said...

Dear Anonymous,

Thanks for the kind words. It's always nice to receive constructive comments like yours.

You're referring to my article, "Chopping and Changing - the science behind personalizing a fighting handgun" (Concealed Carry magazine, Nov/Dec 2009)

For other readers of this blog, just to paraphrase what I wrote in the article: I defined good accuracy in a combat pistol as not necessarily all shots in one hole, just consistently hitting to the owner's satisfaction. I suggested that a three-shot group measuring four inches in a bad guy's chest is acceptable. And I went on to make the point that accurizing a pistol can often result in reduced reliability (especially when the pistol is shot a lot in combat without the opportunity to clean it.)

My example of a four-inch group in the chest was an example of the final outcome being satisfactory for a gunfight. Having said that, I absolutely agree with your explanation of taking into account the accuracy or skill of the shooter as the other half of the accuracy equation. A poor marksman will never shoot tight groups with an accurate pistol, and likewise, a fine marksman will never shoot tight groups with an inaccurate pistol. My only caveat is that since we're talking about pistols for combat, rather than competition, reliability and getting rounds downrange must be the first priority, and some pistols become less reliable as they are made more accurate.

Thanks again for your comments, and Stay in Condition Yellow.
John Higgs