I felt safer piloting planes after 9/11. But now terror can lock itself inside the cockpit

October 1, 2026 — 7:30pm

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Take yourself back to 9/11. The twin towers of the World Trade Centre are collapsing and yet, despite that apocalyptic scene, the world’s attention suddenly shifts to a hitherto harmless field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United 93 has crashed after a violent struggle in the cockpit between desperate passengers and a terrorist. Tragically, the terrorist prevailed and the world was never the same.

Neither was aviation.

We’ve all experienced the strict security routines that resulted from that despicable day. Every time we fly, the legacy of September 11 lingers in some way. Be it the slower security queue or the drink bottle you have to forfeit. But most of all, it’s the locked, bullet-proof cockpit door. Even if the captain wants a coffee, or to relieve him or herself after one, the flight attendants have to stand in what might be harm’s way for that door to open momentarily.

Now drag........

© Brisbane Times