James,
Give me a few assistants and a few days to train (rehearse) them and I can take over any commercial flight in the world.
As Pournelle noted at the time, (a) it was a one-off*; no-one in the highjacked planes realised it was to be an act of “martyrdom”, rather that it would be just another ransom demand, and (b) the simple measure of securely (physically) sealing the pilot’s compartment** from the cabin would have avoided that tragic scenario.
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* Seriously, if that scenario were to be repeated today, you think the passengers might feel they had nothing to lose and act accordingly?
* *Two crew, of course.
