Would you stop a terrorist?

Morning,

Since what happened on a Delta Airlines/NorthWest flight regarding a terrorist trying to cause damage to the 200 and something passengers. I have been wondering, if you see a guy trying to light an explosive or any terrorist related plot. Would you get involved and stop them?

For example:

You are on an aircraft and the guy next to you or on the same row, is trying to light some "explosive device" would you get out of your seat and stop them?

Would be interesting to see how many people would and wouldn't to be honest. Sorry for not making it clearer but I hope you all get it. :P

If its on a plane then yes, I would. This is because if I don't then I die - or the terrorist kills me when I try and stop him - so I might aswell try and stop him, so other passengers see whats happening and hopefully they will stop him too.

However, if I saw the terrorist doing it on a road, I would run for my life.

The two are similar, but different situations.

In the plane, you die if the explosion goes off.
On th road, you can save youself by running.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Saurav

If its on a plane then yes, I would. This is because if I don't then I die - or the terrorist kills me when I try and stop him - so I might aswell try and stop him, so other passengers see whats happening and hopefully they will stop him too.

However, if I saw the terrorist doing it on a road, I would run for my life.

The two are similar, but different situations.

In the plane, you die if the explosion goes off.
On th road, you can save youself by running.

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Yeah I would probably do the same. Try and stop them while in an aircraft, at least If I did then I may be able to stop them all together. If it was someone in the street etc, I would move away pretty quicker but also call the Emergency services if they didn't know about it already.

I would call 999 once I was very very far away - could be a nuke, god knows.
But if they are about to set it off, I don't think the emergency services would be able to stop them, but its worth a try.

What surprises me is that these terrorists try and blow up planes instead of big shopping centers. I understand they want to create a fear in flying, but won't it be easier for them to do shopping centers and that would still create fears :S and less chances of getting caught if you fail.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Saurav

I would call 999 once I was very very far away - could be a nuke, god knows.
But if they are about to set it off, I don't think the emergency services would be able to stop them, but its worth a try.

What surprises me is that these terrorists try and blow up planes instead of big shopping centers. I understand they want to create a fear in flying, but won't it be easier for them to do shopping centers and that would still create fears :S and less chances of getting caught if you fail.

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Well in the UK and USA, they seem to hit planes because they can fly them into big builders or blow them up and killing multiple targets. But in other countries, cities/open areas have been targeted. They probably wouldn't be able to do something but at least they will know to be prepared. If it was a "Nuke" then we are pretty screwed if they can get holds on that type of stuff very easily. But this is why the Police forces across the UK want us to report any "suspicious" activity; you can't be 100% sure these days.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MattGarner

Well in the UK and USA, they seem to hit planes because they can fly them into big builders or blow them up and killing multiple targets. But in other countries, cities/open areas have been targeted. They probably wouldn't be able to do something but at least they will know to be prepared. If it was a "Nuke" then we are pretty screwed if they can get holds on that type of stuff very easily. But this is why the Police forces across the UK want us to report any "suspicious" activity; you can't be 100% sure these days.

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Yeah in Manchester you always hear these radio adverts on what number to ring when you see someone suspicious.

Still, in situations like the one which just happened, the plane wouldn't really have hit any buildings, but blown up in the sky. Surely they would get more casualties blowing up a shopping center.
They seem to have an obsession over planes.

If his hands were in his pockets and he had a big ass coat on, id leg it

if he was thin and trying to light something id disarm him ..... literally :D

Like saurav said, if it was on a plane, I'd try and disarm them. If the plane gets blown up, you're gonna die. If the plane crashes, you're gonna die. It's a lose-lose situation so I'd try and save others... Then again, I'm sure the people on the 9/11 planes would have said the same so maybe I'd be so scared I wouldn't be able to move.

If I was on the ground, I'd call the police.

On an aircraft I'd disarm with, with any means of force. Probably make them unconscious just incase. As someone said, you're in the sky and you see a bomb, you're most likely going to die, you might aswell try and prevent it.

Depends, if he was a kingpin, yes, if not, probs yes.

it depends on the situation. If its on a plane then you'd die anyway if you didn't so you may aswell try to save yours and everybody else's lives.

If it was in a train station or airport then i'd probably back off hurridly and shout "He's Got A Bomb!".

For all you know they could be carrying other weapons and kill you before you could do anything. Better saving your life and everyone's who can run than risking killing yourself and letting the terrorist get away with it anyway.

Whatever the situation I would almost certainly attempt to stop a terrorist from committing an atrocity, especially on British soil and most certainly on a plane on which I was a passenger. To be fair I've been taught that my own life is expendable in regard to the grand scheme of things and I think I'd rather die in a blaze of glory (trying to prevent a large attack) in an effort to stop the deaths that would occur.
the lives of dozens, hundreds, thousands of others > my life