]]]]]]]]]]]]    HOW TO DEAL WITH AIRCRAFT HIJACKERS      [[[[[[[[[[[[[ 
                      By Willam Vandersteel                  (6/24/88)
                         Alpine, N.J.

[This letter was sent to the White House by AtE subscriber Wm. Vander-
steel shortly after the two-week long hijacking of Kuwaiti airliner. 
It was also sent to the Wall Street Journal (which did not publish 
it).]

     Methods used to date -- judging from the results -- are unsatis-
factory and to a large extent counterproductive.
     We must start from the premise that under no circumstance will we 
give in to the hijackers so as to discourage future hijackings. To 
date this has generally been observed, but most other actions taken 
thus far have played right into the hands of the hijackers.
     Take the recent case of the Kuwaiti airliner grounded in Cyprus. 
We provide the hijackers with a world forum by instantaneous transmis-
sion of their every demand. This accomplishes their major purpose of 
letting the world know about their mission. We vacillate on their 
demand for refueling, providing them the opportunity of trading 
threats and murders in their attempts to get the fuel. Flight to an-
other destination is probably their only hope of succeeding in, let 
alone surviving, their mission.
     Instead I recommend we take the following action designed to 
frustrate their desperate efforts. For the purpose of illustration I 
will use the recent case of the Kuwaiti Boeing 747 in Cyprus.
    As soon as the aircraft lands, all communication with the hi-
jackers should cease. Any transmission from the aircraft should be 
jammed selectively so that the hijackers are led to believe that their 
transmissions are not getting through, while at the same time the news 
media are prevented from gaining any information, thereby making for a 
complete news blackout. With the use of a digital jamming technique it 
should be possible to decode any transmissions from the aircraft so 
the authorities in charge can monitor developments.
     As soon as the aircraft rolls to a stop, high-powered rifles at 
maximum distance should be used to blow out a sufficient number of 
tires to preclude the possibility of take-off. This should be standard 
operating procedure in all hijackings so that future hijackers will 
know that their destination will also be their last one. An interna-
tional agreement to that effect should be given world-wide publicity.
     If this procedure is followed, it will lead to total frustration 
of the hijackers. All their demands will fall on deaf ears, and their 
threats and deadlines will be frustrated because they will have no way 
of knowing what is happening. Everything they do or contemplate will 
become an exercise in futility because of the communication blackout. 
Any dreams of martyrdom become moot because of their inability to 
announce their intentions to a world audience. 
     I believe that following this procedure is most likely to lead to 
an abject surrender by the hijackers at least risk to the passengers.

William Vandersteel
Alpine, N.J.

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