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ANTI-HIJACKING SYSTEM

A Project Report

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements


of the degree of

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (Aeronautical -Mechanical)


By

Pratik Vasant Patil


500415

Under the esteemed guidance of


Mr. Prathik Sonawane

DEPARTMENT OF AERONAUTICS

THE BOMBAY FLYING CLUB’s COLLEGE OF AVIATION


(Affiliated to University of Mumbai)
2020-2021

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PROFORMA FOR THE APPROVAL PROJECT
PROPOSAL
(Note: All entries of the proforma of approval should be filled up with appropriate and complete
information. Incomplete proforma of approval in any respect will be summarily rejected.)

Project Report No : …………………… Roll No : 500415

1. Name of the Student

Pratik Vasant Patil .

2. Title of the Project

Anti-Hijacking System .

3. Name of the Guide

Mr. Prathik Sonawane .

Signature of the Student Signature of the Guide

Date: ………………… Date: …………………….

Signature of the Head/Coordinator


Date: …………………

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THE BOMBAY FLYING CLUB’s COLLEGE OF AVIATION
(Affiliated to Mumbai University)
MUMBAI -MAHARASHTRA-PINCODE: 400053
DEPARTMENT OF AERONAUTICS

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project entitled, "Anti-Hijacking System", is bonafide work of
PRATIK VASANT PATIL bearing Seat.No: 500415 Semester VI AY 2020-2021 submitted
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of degree of BACHELOR OF
SCIENCE in AERONAUTICS-MECHANICAL from University of Mumbai.

Internal Guide. External Examiner

Pratik Vasant Patil


Name of the Student Signature of the Student

Date:

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project entitled, “Anti-Hijacking System” done at


Mumbai, has not been in any case duplicated to submit to any other university
for the award of any degree. To the best of my knowledge other than me, no one
has submitted to any other university.
The project is done in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the
degree of BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (aeronautics-mechanical) to be
submitted as final semester VI project as part of the curriculum.

Pratik Vasant Patil

Name of the Student. Signature of the student

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To list who all have helped me is difficult because they are so numerous and depth is
enormous. I would like to acknowledge & express my gratitude to the following respected
mentors for providing idealistic channels and fresh dimensions in the completion of this
project.

I would like to thank my Principal, C Kumar for providing the necessary facilities for the
completion of this project. I take this opportunity to thank our Coordinator
for his moral support and guidance from time to time. I would like to express my sincere
gratitude towards my project guide whose guidance and care made the project successful.

I would also like to thank my college library for having provided me with various reference
books and magazines related to my project.

Lastly ,I would like to thank each and every person who directly or indirectly was involved in
making of this project and helped me in completion of the project especially my Parents and
peers ,who supported me throughout the journey of this project.

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Abstract
Anti-hijacking system has become the need of the hour today and is because we cannot
afford to leave any kind of stone unturned to ensure the safety of the passengers, the crew,
and the aircraft. If the anti-hijacking systems are not put in place then it can jeopardize the
security of everything including the lives of everyone on board. Anti-hijacking systems
ensure not just the safety of the people or the aircraft, it can also help prevent major things
like the 9/11. Even though 9/11 was an eye opener for the world, it is not something we
should wait for before we start putting safety measures in place so that nothing goes
wrong and the aviation industry is all about perfection.

In this text, it has been explained in detail the various ideas that could become a strong
anti-hijacking system for any aircraft as a whole. The automatic Cockpit Door lock will
prevent any unwanted or restricted personnel from entering the cockpit and trying to gain
control over the aircraft and it will work in tandem with the sleeping medicine or the
Inhalable anesthetic agent that will be released after the Cockpit Door has been locked
which will cause everyone including the passengers and the terrorists to fall asleep.

Along with that, the fake warning system that will alarm the people on board about low
pressure and make the oxygen masks fall down which will force the terrorists to take
oxygen support and render them incapable of doing anything. The dedicated radio
frequency would help the pilots establish a communication with the on-ground security
personnel responsible for the aircraft. The fake ND system can show a different location
from where the aircraft is actually flying, confusing the terrorists.

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INDEX

Sr no. Topic Page no.

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Background 1

1.2 Objective 2

1.3 Purpose 4

1.4 History 5

1.4.1 Case IC814 6

1.5 Scope 10

2 What Is An Anti-Hijacking System? 12

2.1 Basic Principle 12

2.2 Anti Hijacking System Invention 14

2.3 WristWatch Anti-Hijacking System 16

3 Anti-Hijacking System Design 20

3.1 Radio Communication 20

3.2 Gas Turbine Engine Pressure 21

3.3 Overhead Oxygen Mask 24

3.4 Navigational Display 25

3.5 Ground Control 27

3.6 Cockpit Doors 28

4 Anti-Hijacking Working 30

4.1 Automatic Door Lock 30

4.2 Inhalable Anesthetic Agent 32

4.3 Ground Auto-pilot 34

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4.4 False Warning System 35

4.5 False ND 37

4.6 Dedicated Radio Frequency 40

4.7 Collective Running Procedure 43

5 Report and Analysis 46

5.1 Drawbacks 47

6 Conclusion and Discussion 50

6.1 Cessation 50

6.2 Other Side Of Coin 50

6.3 Precautions 50

7 Literature Cited 52

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Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Background
An Anti-hijacking system is basically a system or a set of operations performed in the
aircraft with the intention to prevent the aircraft from getting hi-jacked from intruders that
are trying to take control of the aircraft for their personal or organizational gain.

What an anti-hijacking system will do is that it will prevent any harm instilled upon the
passengers or the crew that is going to be caused by terrorists and try to defuse the
situation in the best way possible and hopefully the terrorists or the personnel trying to
hijack the plane or any other threat posed to the aircraft or an organization as a whole
would be neutralized.

Today, we have implemented some of the best possible ways of screening passengers and
crew members entering as well as leaving the airport. As a result, we have seen a
significant reduction in the cases of hijacking.

The last Hijack we saw in Indian aviation was the Indian Airlines Flight 814 (IC814).
Since then, many precautions are being taken on the airport level to avoid any such hijack
occurrences.

However, if we look at the bigger picture, the last global hijack event took place in the
latest 2019. This shows that the terrorist or any other person with the intention to hijack a
plane can surpass the airport level security system.

Therefore the airport security system alone is not sufficient to prevent hi-jack events and
thus we need a full-proof system that can disable any threat caused during flight in air. As
of now, aircraft manufacturers are focusing on making planes more efficient economically
but somewhere security systems like anti-hijack systems still require a lot of work.

Hence here we are presenting to you one anti-hijacking system which if implemented on
aircraft, will save the lives of passengers as well as flight crew in the air.

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1.2 Objective
The objective of our project is to demonstrate a practical solution to safeguard passengers
and cabin crew in the event of a hijack. The Anti-hijack system which we have created if
implemented in aircrafts can take air transport safety one level up.

This project includes a number of systems or layers which work together to form a
complete anti-hijack system. The prototype we created will demonstrate the working of
different systems like auto-lock Cockpit Doors, dedicated radio frequency, false ND,
Ground station linked auto-pilot, fake warnings, and inhalation anesthetic agents.

The objective of each system is to create a full proof anti-hijack system. To understand the
complete system, first we need to know what each term means. Let us briefly understand
each layer of the anti hijack system.

Almost all the successful hijacks are accomplished by forcing the pilots to perform actions
as stated by hijackers. Thus, preventing the entry of any other person in the cockpit during
flight is the first and most crucial thing to pay attention to.

To achieve this goal, we have introduced the concept of ‘auto-lock cockpit doors’. The
control of the doors in this system will be majorly automated. But it can always be
overridden by the flight crew. It will make sure no one can enter or exit the cockpit once
the plane is airborne.

The doors will be automatically unlocked once the aircraft lands and comes to a full stop.
Therefore, pilots will not be able to operate the doors even if they are forcefully asked to
do so. The auto-lock door system further works well in conjunction with the rest of the
above mentioned systems.

The next sub-system of our anti-hijacking system includes modifications in the radio
telephony system and it is named as ‘Dedicated radio frequency’. This system assigns a
hidden and ‘not so obvious’ distress frequency on which the pilots can inform ATC about
the hijack event. This will replace the squawk code 7500 which has been used since a
while and most likely to be known to the hijackers.

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False ND is another sub-system in our system which is meant to fool the hijackers.
Hijackers in the 21st century are most likely to be educated and well familiar with aircraft
cockpit and in such a case a fake ND will be helpful.

Once the hijack protocol is activated, the ND will no longer be connected with auto-pilot
or any other navigational systems. But it will continue to show the desired output the
hijacker wishes to see.

All the other 5 sub-systems of this anti hijacking system revolve around the one key
concept of giving most of the controls to the ground. The Ground station linked
auto-pilot handovers the control of the aircraft to the specialised officers present at the
ground station located at the airport.

Once the hijack protocol has been triggered the flight will be operated from ground instead
of pilots and the hijackers will remain unaware about the same.

Fake warnings like low cabin pressure followed by deployment of oxygen masks can
create a fake panic which can be utilized to convince hijackers for an emergency landing at
the nearest airport.

The spraying of Inhalable anesthetic agents is another layer of this anti hijacking system
which will be of great help in the event of hijacking. The anesthetic agent will make
everyone unconscious which will include intruders as well as passengers present in the
cabin.

Therefore the objective of the anti hijacking system will be accomplished with the
operation of all the 6 subsystems stated above.

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1.3 Purpose
So far in the history of Indian aviation, a total of 11 hijack cases have occurred. Any
attempt to hijack imposes a great threat to the passengers and it can be a threat to national
security as well.

Air transport is considered as the safest mode of transportation. Aircraft nowadays have
greater capabilities of conducting safe flight. But incidents like hijacking if not prevented
can cause a threat to the lives of passengers.

Aircraft are capable of handling technical failures without causing any direct threat to the
lives of people, for example, aircrafts are capable of continuing their flight on a single
engine if it's a twin engine aircraft.

Whereas, in the event of a hijack, we don’t have any dedicated system to abdicate the
event of a hijack. Therefore we have to rely on ground or securities on the ground to deal
with hijackers. It means the passengers and crews are always at risk throughout the hijack.

Therefore, an anti-hijack system built into aircraft will help to enhance the security by
covering the loopholes of on-ground security systems.

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1.4 HISTORY
The history of Hijacking is very dark and most events are related to political affairs and
other needs, but in all cases, it is the common people who suffer the most. If we jump back
to the history of India’s aviation industry, the 1st aircraft was hijacked by some terrorists
who took the plane to Lahore in 1971.

The passengers were safe and there were no casualties, the plane was recovered
successfully. But these hijacking events continued to occur in the ‘70s. In that period India
had 3 hijacked planes. This got worse in the ‘80s when 6 Indian planes got hijacked.

For these scenarios, the first provision or defense you can say was legal action. The limits
were set and the airport authority had new rules to follow, which tightened up their security
checking. After this move, the main area to focus on was to develop a technology that will
detect, defend and secure the aircrafts in-flight.

The technology will detect the threat, and if the threat has breached the system, it will
defend the people and aircraft, and secure them to land at a safe place. So these three
protocols or mantras were the center of the system.

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Following this requirement, the first Anti Hijacking System was developed By Mr. Pizzo
in 1974. The system was developed by adapting the technology available at that time. In
easy language, booby traps. Nets were used to catch intruders and secure the plane. Further
development improved the system and formed more of an automated system

1.4.1 Case IC814


Almost every Indian must have heard about the aircraft hijacking that took place around
Christmas in the year 1999. The aeroplane that was hijacked was the Indian Airlines Flight
IC 814. This is the worst hijacking in the history of India.

The flight IC 814 took off from the Kathmandu airport in Nepal with 178 passengers on it.
40 minutes into the flight, 5 Pakistani militants, who were armed with pistols, grenades,
knives, etc, hijacked the aeroplane and ordered the pilot to take the aircraft to Lahore,
Pakistan instead of Delhi.

It was revealed that these 5 militants were the members of Harkat-Ul-Mujahideen which
was based in Pakistan and it operates in Kashmir. All these men used code names for each
other so as to not reveal their identities. These militants had exploited the lax security in
Kathmandu and smuggled these weapons on board.

The airport security also let it slip somehow that the passports of these people were fake.
The flight had taken off at 4:25 pm and it was already running 2 hours late and it consisted
of passengers that were mostly Indians. After the aircraft had entered Indian airspace, the
militant who was seated in the business class.

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The pilot of the aircraft used an emergency transponder to send the distress signal to the
ATC at Delhi telling that the aircraft had been hijacked. The aircraft had been running low
on fuel and Lahore had restricted its access to the Lahore airscape so the hijacker made the
pilot fly the aeroplane to Amritsar instead and they landed in Amritsar at 7pm.

After the Indian government of the time received news about the hijacking, they sent
personnels to deal with the situation and they told the local authorities to delay refueling
the aircraft for as long as possible. The hijackers were becoming very agitated because of
the delays and the pilot was asked to take off again but the aircraft didn’t have enough fuel
to fly.

One of the militants even killed a 25-year-old man and they threatened to kill more and
even after that, they made the pilot take the aeroplane in the air again, it had been mainly
because the security people of the government could not reach Amritsar at the time and the
plane crossed into Pakistan Airspace.

When the pilot tried to land on a highway thinking it was the Lahore runway because
Lahore had turned off the runway lights, they gave the aircraft permission to land in
Lahore. The request made by India to deny the refuelling of the aircraft was denied by
Pakistani officials. The aircraft stayed in Lahore for 3 hours before departing again and it
had been surrounded by Pakistani officials while on the ground.

After a lot of flying in the airspaces of countries like Oman, Afghanistan Uae, the aircraft
was finally granted permission to land at Dubai, UAE based on humanitarian ground. The

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UAE authorities asked the militants to release women and children in return for food for
the hijackers and hence, 25 passengers were allowed to leave along with the dead body of
the 25-year-old man.

The aircraft flew again into the Afghanistan airspace and landed at Kandahar airport at
8:30 am which is a Talibani stronghold. This led the Indian government to coordinate with
the Afghani Embassy in Islamabad. Because of all the delays happening, the Indian
officials arrived at Kandahar on 27th December.

The Talibani had positioned rocket launchers and tanks to prevent any rescue attempt from
the Indian government. The hijackers had been threatening to kill passengers and blow up
the aircraft and they had been demanding $200 million in cash as well as 36 militants
being released from the Indian jails as well as the body of Sajjad Afghani who was a
Kashmiri militant.

The negotiations went on for 4 days and during which the lavatories had been overflowing,
food had been running short, the temperature was getting frigid and the Indian government
was under a lot of pressure to rescue all of the passengers.

Finally, on the 31st December, the Indian government agreed to release 3 high-value
prisoners who had been involved in militant activities in Kandahar, these prisoners were
Masood Azhar who was the leader of HUM, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq
Ahmed Zargar.

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All these prisoners were led to Kandahar. The passengers and the crew got transferred to
the minister’s aircraft who had gone to take them and the freed militants escaped to
Pakistan.

As you might already know, Masood Azhar wreaked havoc over India after that and he
founded Jaish-e-Mohammed, which is the terrorist organization that staged the December
2001 attack on the Indian Parliament.

Saeed Sheikh is also believed to have kidnapped and beheaded the Wall Street Journal
reporter Daniel Pearl in January 2002 is also suspected to being financially being involved
in the attacks of 9/11 in the United States.

This event revealed the major flaws that were a part of India’s national security and some
of these flaws might be unsolved even now. The issues of India’s security resurfaced when
the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai occurred. Masood Azhar was behind those attacks
as well.

Masood Azhar was even behind the attacks that happened on our Indian Soldiers in
Pulwama in 2016. I am sure you remember the Airstrikes that happened after that that were
backed by the current Indian Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This Indian government even enacted the Anti Hijacking Act in 2016 which leaves almost
no room for lax negotiation and it proves that India is finally taking its security very very
seriously.

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1.5 Scope
As we have seen the above IC814, the poor security led to vast destruction not just on
national level but on a global level. No government can handle such events which are
going to end up with unfair and forced deals.

Aviation is indeed a safest mode of travel and also hundreds of people travel in a single
flight at the same time. The following graph shows the number of passengers travelled
from 1980-2020. With such a huge number of people travelling through air transport, it
becomes important to keep the safety factor as one of the priorities.

To avoid and prevent any safety issues the first measure taken is the ground level security
which includes screening the passengers and staff before and after the flight. This is
probably the most effective way to prevent any hurtful events.

However, the hijack events happened over the past few years, even a decade shows that the
hijackers can break in with the advantages of any loopholes found in screening. Thus, an
on-flight anti-hijack system is the next safety layer which is to be introduced.

Currently, most aviation regulators of different countries have made strong laws and
regulations against such intruders. Also, some rules have been set and advised to be

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followed by the cabin crew. However, there is no dedicated anti hijack system present in
aircraft on a mechanical level which makes it difficult to stop any hijack events.

Therefore the anti hijack system we made includes some design modifications and added
safety layers which help to tackle the intruders once the hijack has been attempted. Each
sub-system plays an important role and has its own significance in tackling the hijack.

In the event of a hijack there are two most important things to consider. First priority is to
keep passengers safe which is ensured by subsystems like spraying inhalable anesthetic
agents and fake warnings.

Pilot’s safety is the second most important factor as it directly affects the safety of
passengers and everyone onboard. Also, the entry of intruders in the cockpit is to be
prevented at any cost because intruders taking control over aircraft is the last thing we
want to happen. We have already seen the case of the 9/11 attack.

The auto-lock cockpit doors will make sure no one can enter the cockpit once the aircraft
begins its flight. So far there are only regulations which suggest pilots not to allow anyone
inside the cockpit. But if our anti hijack system is implemented, it will ensure no one
enters the cockpit even forced to do so.

Finally, the subsystems like spraying inhalable anesthetic agents like halothane into the
cabin through the AC ducts and fake ND display are additional safety subsystems which
maximise the safety and ceases the hijack attempt.

We believe that we will see a significant drop in hijack events if this anti-hijack system is
implemented on existing commercial aircrafts. This is an important technology which
needs to be incorporated in the existing aircrafts for the safety of passengers and in turn for
the safety of the nation.

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Chapter 2: What Is An Anti-Hijacking System ?

Hijacking of aircraft is the last thing that an airline can expect or even a country can
expect, but there are incidents that take place where the intruder breaches all the security.
In this hijacking, people have to suffer a lot, so the Anti-Hijacking System was developed
to save everyone on board without harming anyone. This system helps aircraft to land
safely on a nearby airport and catch intruders alive. Anti-Hijacking System is the system
comprising multiple subsystems from the Door locking mechanism to taking help of
pressure from the engine. The system varies according to the patents, and every system
works on different factors.

Anti-Hijacking System is the system that comprises all the working of multiple systems.
Anti hijacking System is not a component or part of aircraft, it is named just because it
helps to counter hijacking. Anti-Hijacking consists of a minimum of 3-4 systems, all these
systems work according to the set commands and perform as a whole. It’s like a fire drill
system, one machine senses the smoke, another turns on the Alarm, and the other machine
starts shower.

2.1 Basic Principle


Every system usually works on some basic principle, some systems totally rely on one
basic thing whereas others consist of 2-3 main components. Anti-Hijacking is one of those
systems that depends on 4 important factors.

Locking System

The Locking System, as the name itself explains, it is used to lock the Cockpit Door. The
Cabin is the section where all passengers sit, and the control over the cabin is monitored by
Cabin Crew Members. The locking Process is wholly controlled by the cabin crew.

According to the provided system, the cabin crew has to activate the locking system. If the
locking system works on transponders or some sort of sensors we can expect false locking
of doors. In this process, Cabin Crew has to turn off the system or deactivate it as soon as
possible.

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Transponders

A transponder is a wireless communication, monitoring, or control device that picks up and


automatically responds to an incoming signal. The term is a contraction of the words
transmitter and responder. Transponders can be either passive or active. Basically, they are
armed devices, usually, these transponders are used in vehicles' Anti Hijacking system. But
they are also Adopted in the Aviation Industry in many different ways.

Microswitch

Microswitches are one of the secreted switches that can activate the locking system and
other systems like the false warning system. These Switches are installed in a place where
cabin crew members frequently sit or visit that particular zone following the regular
protocols.

The microswitch is also installed in the cockpit for precautionary reasons. IF the worst
scissors happen, the intruder enters the cockpit then the pilot can have the chance to send
warning signals to near ATC towers or Military bases.

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2.2 Anti Hijacking System Invention

The Anti-Hijacking System was basically invented or introduced by a US citizen, Mr.


Pizzo, on May 21, 1974. The basic concept of this system was to trap the hijackers and
save passengers as well as cabin crew.

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Gustano A. Pizzo had limited sources to develop such technology; he has adapted the idea
from the usual trap system that we see or deal with them in daily life. He built a booby trap
system, like when an intruder will try to enter the cabin Pilot can easily trap him/her in the
net installed below the floor. By this Pilot and take control over them and can easily snatch
their weapons. Gustano was awarded NOBEL PRIZE as this technology helped and saved
many lives.

The origin of this system is quite complicated, this system is said to be invented or founded
by Mr. Gustano, the there’s no such information available publicly for all that proves it was
used in many aircraft back then. It is obvious that no government or Airline will disclose
the information that can breach this system. So it’s difficult to find what type of technology
is used in what type of aircraft, or what was used in old aircraft.

The basic information available to the public is laws related to Hijacking. Previously there
was no such law or rules especially for hijacking but after such incidents. The law you will
find was the 1982 Anti Hijacking Law, and the latest one is the Anti Hijacking Act 2016.

After all, you will find many innovations in Anti Hijacking System and enhancement
which upgrades the technology. The Basic motive of the developer is just to save the lives
on board and bring the aircraft on the ground safely. The same motive we follow. The
difference is what type of technology you use to improve it or what type of technology you
develop which can help millions of people flying.

Here, we came up with an idea to build a system that can be developed in any country
without using any expensive components. We can simply use what we have and can easily
tackle such a situation. People out there will wonder how we can develop such
technologies for aircraft as it is one of the expensive machines flying in the sky. But, there
are ways to develop such a system.

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2.3 WristWatch Anti-Hijacking System

As it has been explained in brief about what an anti-hijacking system is and what all things
it contains, you need to understand that there are many things other than these systems that
can be made use of to help prevent the aircraft from getting hijacked.

One such innovative idea was the wristwatch sedative invention. This is similar to the
gaseous sleeping sedative or the inhalable anesthetic agent mentioned above, which and
which will be explained in detail in another chapter.

These two ideas are similar in the way that they both are sedatives that will render the
people motionless to carry out any kind of task that would pose a threat to themselves or
others around them.

This wristwatch sedative idea was tossed by Siddaiah Sudarshan in a contest where
innovative ideas had to be performed. This idea is complicated yet very simple as it will
just require a wristwatch to be worn by all the passengers getting on-board and if anything
out of the ordinary happens, the sedative would be triggered and start its work and will
prevent anything bad from happening.

To explain the wristwatch sedative in simple words, it is a form of a wristwatch that would
be worn on the wrist of the people getting on the aircraft. The passengers would be made

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to wear these watches during the security check and unless they wear them, they won’t be
allowed to get on the flight.

The idea behind this watch is that it would be locked on the wrist of the person and it
cannot be opened by anyone unless they have the password to it. The airline of the security
personnel would be the holder of these passwords and upon departure, they would enter the
passwords and remove the wristwatches.

The system of the wristwatch contains an injectable tranquillizer or sedative that would be
the main objective of this idea. Suppose a passenger tries to remove the wristwatch, if that
happens, then the injection system will get actuated and the tranquillizer would get injected
into the person’s system. If, rendering them unconscious.

You must be thinking that this would work only when the person is trying to remove it. But
what if the person has no issues with it because there is nothing that the wristwatch is
doing, so whatever thing they have planned that they are going to do, they can still do it
with the wristwatch on them.

Well, in that case, Sudarshan suggests in his idea that the wristwatch would be connected
to the global satellite network anywhere in the world or on the ground, even when it is
in-flight or it would be operated by any of the crew that are within the aircraft using a
remote control or another such device that operates on either radio waves or infrared light
or anything else.

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If a person or several people try to hijack the aircraft, the crew members could send a
distress signal via a button made for this purpose or with any other kind of remote
available to them and the button will activate the signal at the air traffic control and they
will know that there is a hijacking attempt going on in the aircraft.

During the same time, with the control devices that the crew members have, they can
operate the wristwatches of the person trying to hijack the aeroplane and the particular
person’s wrist watch mechanism would get activated and the tranquilizer would be injected
into their system.

In case the remote control mechanism of the crew members fails or they are unable to use
that particular system for some reason, then the ATC on the ground would activate the
tranquilizing mechanism of either the person if they have the information about who it is or
of all the people. This will keep anyone from coming to any kind of harm in any way.

Later, when the aircraft lands, the hijacker could be taken away by the authorities while
still unconscious and without any hassle. One of the drawbacks of this idea could be that
the hijackers could come up with a way to intercept the signal receiving of the watches
which would not allow the crew or the ATC to access them.

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Another con of this can be that for some people, the sedative could react badly because of
their medical history or any kind of medication that they might be taking or any other
similar thing. And if the sedative gets activated for everyone on board, then the life of an
innocent person with such health issues could get in danger.

So it is not as if this idea is completely useless. If the drawbacks could be overcome, like
by figuring out a safe way to get everyone unconscious, then this would be a great
innovation. But because of these drawbacks, this idea has not been considered seriously by
any airlines or countries. Therefore, this text presents a better option for you than the
wristwatch idea, which is gaseous sedative medicine or the inhalable anesthetic agent.

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Chapter 3: Anti-Hijacking System Design

We tried to use all the components available on the aircraft and with the help of those
components, build our own Anti-hijacking system which is fully functional and secure.
In this chapter, we will explain how our Anti-hijacking System is designed and what type
of components it supports.

Our Anti-Hijacking System Comprises of 6 important factors, with the help of some basic
and important parts of the aircraft we have designed our system, listed below are the
components or system from which we modified it and designed our system.

● Radio Communication
● Gas Turbine Engine Pressure
● Overhead Oxygen Mask
● Navigation Display
● Ground Control
● Cockpit Door

In all these are the areas we particularly focused on and modified them which results in an
Anti-hijacking system. We will explain the working and use of all the system on regular
basis, from which you can get a basic idea of how we can use these systems for
Anti-hijacking.

3.1 Radio Communication

Radio Communication System, The type of aircraft communications that most frequently
comes to mind is that which takes place between Pilot and Controller, and uses a "Very
High Frequency" (VHF). Several other means are available and they include "High
Frequency" (HF), "Satellite Communications" (SAT COM) even some telephone systems
can be used in flight.

20
VHF communication systems are the most widely used for maintaining contact between
ground and aircraft. This employs "Line Of Sight" transmission, which translates to a
range of about thirty miles for an aircraft operating at 1,000 feet above the ground, or
about 135 miles with an aircraft operating at 10,000 feet.

Adjustments to the frequency range have been made over the years as the capacity of
ground-based radio stations tends to double every sixteen years. Initially, the "Radio
Frequency" (RF) range was from 118 to 132 MHz.

Channel spacing was set at 200 kHz intervals. In 1958, the first expansion occurred and
was accomplished by reducing the channel spacing to 100 kHz. This change doubled the
number of available channels. The following year, the upper end of the usable frequency
range was extended from 132 MHz to 136 MHz. This continued for quite a long period.

3.2 Gas Turbine Engine Pressure

Air is pressurized by the engines. Turbofan engines compress intake air with a series of
vaned rotors right behind the fan. At each stage of compression, the air gets hotter, and at

21
the point where the heat and pressure are highest, some air is diverted. Some of the hot,
high-pressure air, called bleed air, is sent to de-ice wings and other surfaces, some goes to
systems operated by air pressure, and some starts its journey to the cabin.

The cabin-bound air has to be cooled first in an intercooler, a device like a car radiator that
sheds the heat to the ambient air scooped aboard for that purpose. From there the air travels
into the airplane’s belly, where air packs cool it further using air cycle refrigeration. An air
cycle cooler is perhaps the simplest air conditioner ever invented because it doesn’t need a
refrigerant as an intermediate fluid to dump heat.

The air packs compress the incoming air to heat it before sending it to another intercooler
to dump the heat to the outside. The air then expands through an expansion turbine, which
cools it the way blowing with your lips pursed results in a cool flow of air. (Test the
principle by blowing with your mouth wide open to see how warm the air would be if it
weren’t compressed and then allowed to expand.)

22
Now the air is ready to mix with air from the cabin in a mixer, or manifold, that adds the
new air to the recirculating cabin air, which is moved by fans. To maintain a comfortable
temperature for the passengers, automatic systems regulate the mixture of heat from the
engines and cold from the air packs.

To maintain the pressure in the cabin equal to that at low altitude, even while the airplane
is at 30,000 feet, the incoming air is held within the cabin by opening and closing an
outflow valve, which releases the incoming air at a rate regulated by pressure sensors.
Think of a pressurized cabin as a balloon that has a leak but is being inflated continuously.

23
3.3 Overhead Oxygen Mask

You will no doubt recall from safety briefings that ‘masks will automatically drop from the
panel above you.’ And they will. Any cabin depressurization above a certain altitude
(usually around 14,000 feet) will cause the panels of the chambers containing the masks to
automatically open, and the masks to dropdown. This can, of course, be done manually by
the cockpit crew as well.

Masks will drop above every row of seats, as well as in toilets and the galley areas.
Interestingly, there are usually more masks per row that seats, to provide extra masks for
infants in the row, or passengers or crew in the aisle. Masks need to be applied quickly,
before hypoxia or unconsciousness sets in, so you wouldn’t want to be looking around for
one.

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3.4 Navigational Display

There's another 'NavDisplay' instrument, which is another sort of unique surface, alongside
ground-radar. It is intended to show route type data (course, waypoints, traffic, air
terminals, navaids) in a customisable way, and thus be utilized to reenact the route methods
of different current cockpits.

The 'NavDisplay' code in FlightGear 2.6 is as of now completely conventional - utilizing


XML and some cunning PNGs, it ought to have the option to inexact most moving-map
type shows - Honeywell/Boeing, Airbus, a fundamental Garmin (perhaps not a G1000), or
different military showcases. At this moment.

You ought to have the option to get the ND showing TCAS, waypoints, the course way,
VORs and air terminals. I would trust the image definitions and surfaces you need can be
acquired from the A380 and changed over, else I have the 777 variants (which are certainly
extraordinary!) or they're in the primary 777 repo.

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The route show (ND) instrument gives a surface taking after the presentation of the route
or guide shows found in numerous advanced cockpits and GPS units. The instrument
attempts to be adequately nonexclusive, to inexact various true shows. Luckily, most
certifiable presentations are very like one another, for certain frameworks offering extra
highlights that will be added later.

Since the ND framework essentially shows elements (simulated intelligence objects,


navaids, and so on), in a space into a 2D presentation, it's trusted that it tends to be reused
for some different sorts of cockpit show.

26
3.5 Ground Control

Air Traffic Control (ATC) is an assistance given by ground-based air traffic regulators who
direct airplanes on the ground and through controlled airspace and can offer warning types
of assistance to airplane in non-controlled airspace.

The main role of ATC overall is to forestall impacts, coordinate and facilitate the
progression of air traffic, and give data and other help to pilots. In certain nations, ATC
plays a security or guarded job, or is worked by the military.

Air traffic regulators screen the area of airplane in their appointed airspace by radar and
speak with the pilots by radio. To forestall impacts, ATC implements traffic detachment
rules, which guarantee every airplane keeps a base measure of void space around it
consistently. In numerous nations, ATC offers types of assistance to all private, military,
and business airplane working inside its airspace.

27
Relying upon the sort of flight and the class of airspace, ATC may give directions that
pilots are needed to comply, or warnings (known as flight data in certain nations) that
pilots may, at their attentiveness, ignore. The pilot in order is the last expert for the
protected activity of the airplane and may, in a crisis, go astray from ATC guidelines to the
degree needed to keep up safe activity of their aircraft

3.6 Cockpit Doors

Cockpit security systems are supposed to allow a pilot the ability to access the cockpit. But
access can be deliberately denied from within the cockpit.

Cockpit doors on an Airbus, it has three modes that are operated from the pilots' seats:
unlock, normal, lock. In the event of whoever is in the cockpit being incapacitated, there is
a touchpad that will allow cabin crew who know the code to enter.

In "normal" mode the cockpit is locked but can be accessed - after a 30-second delay - by
touchpad should the cabin crew get no response from inside.

28
"Unlocked" mode is what a pilot would use to open the door for a colleague returning from
the toilet.

"Locked" means the locking mechanism ignores the touchpad entry code and remains
locked for five minutes (it can be repeated).

It's easy to see how this would be used to prevent hijackers who have managed to get hold
of the code from cabin crew from entering the cockpit.Some planes may have a screen to
tell the pilots who is outside the cockpit door.If a pilot is unable to access the cockpit, it
suggests that his colleague has denied entry.

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Chapter 4: Anti-Hijacking Working

As you already know, the Anti-hijacking system that has been introduced in this text
consists of a total of 6 systems. Let us find out how all these systems work individually
and in tandem with the other systems.

4.1 Automatic Door Lock

It has already been explained how the cockpit doors work. In the normal mode, they are
locked and can be accessed with a 30 seconds delay, in the unlocked mode the door would
be open to allow the pilot’s colleagues to enter and in locked mode, it won’t open even
when the touchpad is accessed.

When it comes to the automatic cockpit door lock system which is used as a subset of the
anti-hijacking system, the working of it is rather simple. When the crew of the aircraft
realises that there is a person that is trying to hijack the aircraft or anything along the lines,
they will press a button that will immediately send signals to the cockpit door.

30
This signal would be received by the pilots within the cockpit as well. When the
transmission signal is received by the door, it will get locked and nothing that the hijackers
do from the outside will open the doors.

The automatic lock can be a magnetic spring lock that springs into action and prevents the
cockpit door from being opened from the outside even if they have the access code to the
cockpit door.

Even though normally the doors are operated from within the cockpit, in the automatic
door lock anti-hijacking system, this function would be accessible from both within the
cockpit by the pilot and co-pilot and from the outside by the crew members.

The crew members would just have the authority to actuate the anti-hijacking automatic
cockpit door lock system in case of a hijacking attempt or another such emergency and
they won’t have the authority or the access to lock or unlock the cockpit door on their own,
whenever they liked.

31
When it comes to reopening the cockpit door, that access for that would lie with the pilot
and copilot and only they can open the door when they feel it is sad

This automatic cockpit door lock anti-hijacking system will work in tandem with the
Inhalable anaesthetic agent that would be used to render the hijackers unconscious and
unable to canary out any threats or anything. So let us talk about that now.

4.2 Inhalable Anesthetic Agent

When the automatic cockpit door lock would be activated, the crew members would also
actuate an inhalable anaesthetic agent system that would get released in the aircraft after
the automatic door lock has closed the cockpit door.

That will be because we would not want the pilots to inhale this anaesthetic agent and
render them useless and unable to fly the aircraft, that would just kill the purpose of this
system which is to ensure the safety of the aircraft and its passengers.

32
This inhalable anaesthetic agent would be basically a gas that would be released, which, if
inhaled by a person, would make them go unconscious. So if they are unconscious, they
cannot do anything and they will just be asleep.

This will work when the crew of the aircraft sees that someone is trying to hijack the plane
to try to cause harm to some passengers. This gas would be a sleeping medicine or a
paralyzing gas.

This gas would be released in the cabin via various outlets that have been installed in the
cabin and the security device of this gas would be controlled by the pilots and co-pilots
that reside in the cockpit.

The crew members can wear oxygen masks or eyeguards for self-protection and the pilots
can thereafter actuate the ground autopilot, which will be explained next. Crew members
wearing the masks ensure that they do not inhale this gas and go unconscious because they
will be needed to take proper care of the unconscious people.

This system even has a few drawbacks that are similar to the wristwatch tranquillizer idea
and those will be discussed in a later chapter.

33
All you need to know about the inhalable anaesthetic agent is that it would be a harmless
gas that would just work like a sleeping medicine for the passengers that will include the
hijackers.

When the aircraft lands, the security personnel can arrest the hijackers and they would not
make any fuss because they had been paralyzed or rendered unconscious.

To further guarantee that the hijackers do not suddenly become conscious due to some
miracle, the crew members can give them additional tranquillizers when the inhalable
anaesthetic agent outlet has been closed.

4.3 Ground Auto-pilot

As we found out, if the crew feels that a hijacker is on board and trying to cause distress,
then they will actuate the anti-hijacking system. When the system is actuated, the inhalable
anaesthetic agent, the automatic cockpit door lock and all the other anti-hijacking systems
would be activated.

One of these sub-systems would be the ground autopilot system. When the hijacking
system gets activated, a distress signal would be sent to the ground. This signal would tell
the ground ATC that the aircraft has been hijacked and that will happen through the radio
frequency transmitter.

After the distress signal has reached the ground, they will have a few minutes to assemble
a professional simulator pilot and they will get complete control of the aircraft. The
handing over of the control would be done to ensure various things.

34
If the pilot does not have control of the aircraft, they will not be able to steer the aircraft
according to the wishes of the hijackers even if they somehow manage to enter the cockpit
and threaten the pilot.

The pilot would have to be trained to operate under pressure and not let the advantage go
to the hijackers. That is where the fake ECAM comes in as it would give false data of the
various systems and confuse the hijackers.

All this while, the control of the aircraft would be under the pilot on the ground who would
operate the aircraft through simulators. This has drawbacks but all in all, if all the kinks are
taken care of, it would ensure that no harm comes to the aircraft and the hijackers are
unable to take control of where the aircraft is headed.

4.4 False Warning System

35
Since the past few years the most cockpit systems are being replaced from analogue or
traditional with electronic or digital systems. And such cockpits are called glass cockpits.
With the modernisation of the cockpit, instruments became electronic too.

While designing the cockpit, every manufacturer has a basic goal of making things easier
for pilots without causing any distraction. Thus, the placements and structure of
instruments is arranged accordingly.

On the other hand, the warnings are supposed to distract the pilot in order to catch their
attention for some more crucial events. Still the warnings are kept to a minimum which
will create less panic among the pilots so that they can operate and take actions in a calm
manner.

Those who have travelled by aeroplane might have noticed that it's a very rare moment in
which you might get to hear any warning specifically for the cabin. The warnings in the
cabin can create a great panic among passengers.

However, in the event of a hijack, passengers are already in panic. In that case creating
false warning might create a panic which will be used to confuse the intruder. Following
these false warnings, the pilot can attempt to land the plane at the nearest airport where the
intruder can be caught with the help of ground security.

36
Once it is detected that an intruder has entered the aircraft with the purpose of hijacking,
the pilot will have to give a command by pressing the master switch which will trigger the
anti hijack system.

Once the anti hijack system has been activated, it will create a false warning of low cabin
pressure inside the cockpit as well as the cabin. The warning will be followed by the
dropping of oxygen masks present above each passengers and cabin crew seat.

It will then help to convince the hijacker that the plane cannot fly as planned and has to
land as soon as possible. In that case, the pilot can immediately begin to descend lower
altitudes and eventually land at a nearest airport.

4.5 False ND
As we have seen, the modern glass cockpit aircrafts incorporates navigational displays
(ND) instead of the traditional Electronic Horizontal Situation Indicator (EHSI). The
functionality remains the same, but the same data is displayed on a bigger and better screen
of ND.

37
However, some older aircrafts still make use of EHSI for navigational data. It was
implemented on B737 and A320 in the 1990s and currently it is present in almost all
commercial aircrafts.

These new navigational displays make it easy for pilots to read the data displayed on them
in an easy and comfortable manner without having to monitor different instruments. But
being easy to monitor, it can be considered as a con if we consider hijackers are present in
the cockpit.

The security system in the 21st century is already well built to prevent any such unwanted
events. Thus only a well educated intruder who is familiar with the safety and security of
aircraft can break in through different safety systems.

38
In that case, it is possible that hijackers will be familiar with the navigational data shown in
the cockpit. That is why in our anti-hijack system we have given a different approach to
the navigational displays.

Once the anti-hijack system has been activated, there will not be any connection between
actual en route details and the data being shown on the navigational displays. However, the
pilot's input will be shown on the NDs but won't be executed in real life.

As we have already discussed, once the anti hijack protocol is activated, controls will be
given to the ground station for safety reasons. Thus the pilot will no longer need data
displayed on the navigation display until he wants to take control back in his hands.

Thus, the pilot can provide inputs as stated by the hijacker which won’t get executed but
will be reflected on the navigational displays. Therefore the hijackers will be unaware
about the current and actual location of aircraft.

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4.6 Dedicated Radio Frequency

Radio communication is one of the important systems implemented on aircraft and in the
event of hijacking when the aircraft is in the air, it becomes crucial to inform the ground
authorities about such activity.

Today, various frequencies and bands of frequencies are being used for radio
communication between aircraft and ATC on ground. We use HF frequencies (3-30MHz),
VHF frequencies (30-300MHz) as well as UHF frequencies (300-3000MHz).

The VHF and HF frequencies are used by various ground authorities like ground, tower,
approach and control for in-flight communication throughout the flight. However, at a time
there are numerous aircrafts flying within the same airspace and the ATC communicates
with them under the same frequencies.

40
Therefore, it became difficult for ATC to identify and communicate with a particular
aircraft which is facing some critical issues. Thus, to give priority of communication with
ATC to the required aircraft squawk codes were developed.

Today, we use squawk codes like 7500, 7600 and 7700 to convey different emergencies to
the ATC and these squawk codes are used for these particular set emergencies only. These
squawk codes are transmitted at UHF frequency to the ATC.

● Squawk 7500 - Hijack


● Squawk 7600 - Radio Communication Failure
● Squawk 7700 - Emergency (Mayday calls)

These squawk codes have been in use since a while now. Everyone is familiar with these
codes and in the event of hijacking, it is not possible to enter the squawk code 7500 in the
transponder when the intruder is present in the cockpit.

Therefore, transmitting the emergency of hijacking in such a case is not possible; rather
this method may not be the best possible way of informing ATC. Thus, the part of our
anti-hijack system utilizes an unknown distress frequency instead of traditional squawk
7500 code.

Throughout the flight, as aircraft travels from one FIR boundary (flight information region)
to another or even under different flight levels, aircraft need to communicate with ATC
under various frequencies to various stations.

41
These communications are made on particular VHF frequencies set by the respective
stations. Thus utilising a particular VHF frequency similar to those used by various
stations is less likely to be noticed by intruders.

Therefore in our anti-hijack system we have used a VHF frequency within the range of 118
MHz to 136 MHz as a distress frequency. Any call made on that particular frequency will
be transmitted to ATCs of nearby airports as well as to the control tower of the particular
radio/FIR the aircraft is currently flying.

For example, if aircraft flying over Nagpur has made a call on distress frequency about a
hijack, it will be transmitted to all nearby airports like Bhopal, Indore, Aurangabad,
jabalpur as well to the control centre of that FIR which is Mumbai in our case.

This way, all the nearby airports will be prepared to take any required action or to arrange

priority landing or airspace to the aircraft.

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4.7 Collective Running Procedure

What all the individual anti-hijacking systems are and


what they do and how they work have already been
explained. What still remains to be seen is how all these
systems would work collectively to stop the hijackers from
doing anything that would be considered hazardous by
anyone and how these systems would prevent anything bad
from happening within the aircraft.

The first and foremost thing that would get activated


would be the automatic cockpit door lock mechanism. This
system would be connected to a switch which will act as a
trigger. Both the cabin crew members as well as the pilots
and co-pilots will have access to this switch. What they
will do is activate the switch when they see that there are
hijackers on board.

When the anti-hijacking automatic door lock system gets


activated, it will close the cockpit door within seconds and
the access to the cockpit would be cut. This would enable
the pilots to work safely and not let any intruders into the
cockpit because if that happened, then the safety of the
whole aircraft might get compromised.

The next thing that will happen after the cockpit door gets
locked will be the inhalable anesthetic agent being
released. When the passengers, amongst which the
hijackers are present as well, inhale the anesthetic agent,
they will simply fall asleep.

The crew members can wear the oxygen mask when the
sleeping agent is released and that would enable them to

43
take care of all the passengers on board because some of them might need some attention
when they are out. It would also help them secure the hijackers and bind them with
something so that they would not be able to move even if they came back to
consciousness.

After the airplane lands, the authorities can take away the hijackers that are still
unconscious. To ensure that the hijackers do not wake up when the flight is still in the air,
the crew members can give them an additional anesthetic dose.

The next thing in the anti-hijacking system would be the dedicated radio frequency, using
which, the pilot would send a distress signal to the ATC telling them that the aircraft has
been hijacked and that they are going to hand over the control of the aircraft to the ground.

After this, the ground auto-pilot would get activated along with the Fake ND and the Fake
warning system. The ground auto-pilot would ensure that even if the hijackers somehow
got into the cockpit, they would not be able to control the aircraft through the pilots and
force them to take the aircraft to a location they want.

The fake ND would come into play during this time. If the hijackers realize that the control
of the aircraft is not in the hands of the pilot then they might kill the pilots. So to keep up
pretenses, the fake ND would display the readings that the pilot wants the hijackers to see.

The control of the aircraft would be in the ground's hands but the hijackers won't know
that. So to fool the hijackers, the pilot would act as if they are taking the aircraft where the
hijackers want them to. And when they control the aircraft, the changes in direction and
other such things would be shown in the Fake ND, making the hijackers think that the pilot
is following their command.

The last anti-hijacking system is the fake warning system which would raise a fake alarm
of there not being enough pressure or oxygen in the cabin, which would make the
passengers use oxygen masks. This would also force the hijackers to stay on their seats and
in the meantime, the pilots could land the airplane because of the emergency.

The initial stage of the anti-hijacking system consists of an automatic door lock and the

44
release of the inhalable anesthetic agent and the secondary stage would include the other
system i.e. ground auto-pilot, dedicated radio frequency, Fake ND, and Fake Warning
system. All these systems would work in coordination to prevent the hijackers from doing
anything to harm anyone.

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Chapter 5: Report and Analysis

When the anti-hijacking systems are working in tandem with each other, they present a
very firm system that will prevent hijacking and discourage any potential hijackers.
Although it should be noted that an anti-hijacking system would only be the last line of
defense.

Hijacking should be prevented before the hijackers even get into the aircraft. This should
be done by ensuring that all the precise safety measures have been put in place by the
airport authorities that will ensure that the passengers are unable to smuggle anything on
board that might be harmful to anyone.

Nowadays, hijackers or militants have come up with various ideas to prevent the detection
of their weapons. They have started making weapons out of plastics. They somehow
sharpen and harden them enough to be harmful to any human as well as prevent detection
from the metal detectors and other such things.

They don’t just make knives, even pistols are made from plastic. They could smuggle the
parts of the pistol on board, then assemble them in flight and then use them to terrorize the
passengers or crew. Although these pistols can only be used once because plastic can’t
withstand that much heat, a single shot is still enough to put someone’s life in danger.

46
So when all the things like preventing the hijackers from getting on the aeroplane or
smuggling weapons on board fail, the next thing to come is the anti-hijacking system.

In the anti-hijacking system, when the crew detects that someone is going to be attempting
a hijack, they will initiate the anti-hijacking sequence. First, the cockpit door would get
locked keeping the pilots and the cockpit out of the access of the hijackers, then the
inhalable anaesthetic agent would be released, making the hijackers go unconscious.

After that, the other systems would start working, one of which would be the dedicated
radio frequency which would send the distress signal about the aircraft being hijacked and
later, the ground auto-pilot comes in, taking over the control of the aircraft completely and
not allowing the hijackers to force the pilot into taking the aircraft where they want them to
go even if the hijackers somehow get into the cockpit.

Another system is the false warning system that will give false warning to the passengers
which will force them to wear oxygen masks and not allow movement in the cabin. The
false navigational displays also help display a fake direction where the aircraft is headed,
this will show the place where the hijackers want the plane to go and not to the actual
location where the aircraft is being taken by the ground auto-pilot.

5.1 Drawbacks

All these things will work in preventing the hijackers from causing harm to the aircraft or
to the passengers or crew. Although these ideas are great, they do come with certain
drawbacks.

These drawbacks will prevent the airlines from actively implementing this anti-hijacking in
the aircraft. Any system should be perfected before we put the safety of the aircraft or the
human lives in its hands because we all know Murphy’s Law.

47
One of the main issues with this anti-hijacking system would be the inhalable anaesthetic
agent. The problem with this system would be that every person who is present in the cabin
would inhale this agent, except the crew members who’d be wearing masks.

The reason this would be an issue would be because some people might have some health
issues like asthma, diabetes or anything else. If the anaesthetic agent contains something
that might react negatively with the person’s body. So that would have to be looked after, it
would be great if we could discover a way to make this anaesthetic agent safe for any
passenger.

The problem comes when the passengers are unconscious as well. Some people might need
great care when they have inhaled this agent and the crew might or might not be able to
take proper care of them. This is the same issue that the wristwatch tranquillizers posed.

One of the other drawbacks would be with the ground auto-pilot system. When the
complete control of the aircraft is handed over to the ground, they might not know what the
situation is within the aircraft. They might also not experience the pressure that the
passengers are going through and not be able to make proper decisions.

If the hijackers somehow found that the pilot had been playing with them then the lives of
the people on board might be in danger because the hijackers would have nothing to lose.
There are a great many risks that come with the advantage of not having the control of the

48
aircraft within their hands for the pilots, so those kinks would be needed to work on as
well.

Another drawback would be the activation of the anti-hijack system or just the false
warning system by mistake. Although this is a rather hard mistake to make, we got to
prepare for all the mistakes. A crew member might make a mistake and put the aircraft in
the anti-hijacking mode, following which, all the systems would get activated and even the
control of the aircraft would be handed over to the ground.

There should be a way to take the control back and to undo the actions of the systems like
a false warning or inhalable anaesthetic agent system. If such a way is found then the
anti-hijacking system would become almost impossible to penetrate.

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Chapter 6: Conclusion and Discussion

6.1 Cessation

Anti Hijacking is not a new technology introduced to the world of innovation. It has
existed for years, but what we developed is a major upgrade from what we read or what we
know about the Anti Hijacking system. The goals we set to save lives on board can be
achieved, on papers this technology is full proof with quite less disadvantages.

We agree the disadvantages are quite major and dangerous but flying an aircraft at the
height of 45,000ft and saving it from hijacking seems impossible without this kind of
technology. According to the available information on the public domain, the technology
used in the current time is majorly focused on Screening passengers and having tight
security systems.

But we have a change here. Our system is developed to tackle intruders on flight and
handle the situation smoothly without harming anyone on board, even the intruder.

6.2 Other Side of Coin

We know our system has some faults and some major drawbacks but if you look around,
one can find many techs and machines which come with the claim of full proof technology.
Nothing is full proof, every tech has its own fault, as everything is not perfect, it's just
great in its own way.

If this technology comes into use there will be more upgrades for sure, every upgrade will
improve it further and will make it nearly perfect. At least we can achieve the goal to make
it fully safe and secure.

6.3 Precautions

● Periodic Training:
As the Anti hijacking system is not a device or component to use, it has to be practised by
the Flight and Cabin crew. It is just like a fire drill or emergency evacuation practiced by

50
the crew. If the crew is not well trained, then in the real scenario they might perform the
wrong set of actions and can make it worse for everyone on board.

● Maintenance:
Maintenance personnel will definitely have more work if new technology is added, but in
this they have to check Sleeping medicine bottles periodically. They have to check whether
bottles have leakage, if any, then replace it if required. They have to check the locking
system and false warning system too.

● Ground Station:
The aircraft would be controlled remotely, so it is important to have a trained pilot as we
have for UAV and drones in the Military. There should be a proper qualification for this
post, as the pilot will remotely control the Aircraft with an average of 100 passengers on
board. There should be a proper ground system which will help to monitor the aircraft, if
not available then to develop some software to share the data at any ground station.

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Chapter 7: Literature Cited

7.1 Books Referred-

Aircraft instruments and integrated system - EHJ Pallet


Aircraft Radio System - J. Powell
Aircraft Gas Turbine Engine technology - Irwin Treager

7.2 Websites Referred-

https://patents.google.com/patent/US3811643A/en
www.wikipedia.com
https://www.airbus.com/newsroom/press-releases/en/2002/05/airbus-apos-high-security-co
ckpit-doors-gain-certification.html
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16554286/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Airlines_Flight_814

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