This idea is not to make a plane go faster, like NOS on a dragster, but rather to prevent any of the pasengers getting up to mischief. At the press of a button in the cockpit, laughing gas would be introduced into the cabin of the aircraft, causing all the passengers and terrorists presnet, to be incapacitated (hopefully without permanent harm). The flight crew wouldn't be affected, as they would put on their oxygen masks first, as is common practice in aviation emergencies. NOS as a gas to use is just a suggestion of course, there are probably other more suitable and less potentialy harmful substances available. Apparently research was done on gasses producing LSD-like effects for military purposes, one of these might be more useful. Or perhapse even some form of marijuana-derived agent...-- BertieWooster, Sep 16 2001 N2O FAQ http://www.resort.c...e/Info/N2O/N2O.htmlBackground. [jutta, Sep 16 2001] (How much N2O would you it take to incapacitate an airplane full of people, anyway?)
So terrorists will have to start packing oxygen masks themselves. What then?-- jutta, Sep 16 2001 Oxygen tanks are metal, so they'd show up pretty well on an X-ray.
A bad idea anyway, though, as what might just give me <6'3, 300#> the giggles could kill someone smaller...and if all they get is the giggles I might just have nothing at all...-- StarChaser, Sep 16 2001 NOS might not be the gas of choice, "LSD gas" or marijuana smoke would probably be safer...-- BertieWooster, Sep 17 2001 Oxygen tanks of any sort are already prohibited on planes.-- arghblah, Sep 17 2001 I heard a talking head on TV suggest that an airplane cabin could be filled with an opaque smoke, to disrupt a hijacker's visibility.-- beauxeault, Sep 17 2001 Any smoke that can be thick enough to block visibility is going to be hard to breathe, too.-- StarChaser, Sep 17 2001 No one has suggested filling the aircraft with custard? I'm shocked!
In fact, flights could routinely be filled with custard. Peaceful passengers would be able to move about freely; violent passengers would be locked in the Custard Matrix. And it would taste better than the peanuts.-- wiml, Sep 19 2001 I'd try it. Anything that could give potential hijackers a bad case of the giggles, and start them swatting each other with in-flight magazines, is all right with me.-- 1percent, Sep 19 2001 //6'3, 300#// - damn, man - always been a big boy?-- thumbwax, Mar 31 2002 Since I was 12. Went from 'normal kid' to 'How's the weather up there' overnight, almost.-- StarChaser, Mar 31 2002 //So what's to keep the terrorists from grabbing masks in the ceiling?????//
Maybe that's the best idea. Depressurize the cabin in a controlled manner and drop the masks. Let's see how well they go about hijacking the plane without air, or confined to a seat.
They could, of course bring air cylinders, but those'd be easier to detect than a razor blade.-- FloridaManatee, Jul 16 2003 Surely the best would be helium, as delivering your demands to the outside world sounding like Micky Mouse would deter most terrorists...imho-- not_morrison_rm, Apr 12 2014 Vaporized ketamine would probably promote the most calm. Being in an aircraft that's hurtling toward fiery doom means nothing if you neither know nor care who you are.-- Alterother, Apr 12 2014 random, halfbakery