Jack Hofbauer of Jack's Air Service in Greenville was a Delta Airlines captain for many years, and has flown in parts of the world where terrorism is an ongoing threat.

Hofbauer said that for one thing, the security in European and Central European countries is much tighter than in America. He remembered heavily-armed security guards protecting himself and his flight crew in Athens, Greece. "If one of the flight attendants stopped to look at something in a shop window on the way to the gate, the guard would also stop. He was always looking about for anything suspicious, he would never interact directly with us, but he was there for our protection," said

Hofbauer went on to say that sometimes his planes would be followed to the runway by armored security vehicles just to make sure that no unauthorized personnel would attempt to board the plane while it taxied prior to take-off.

Another thing Hofbauer noted about United States airport personnel, especially those involved in security, was that they are not as highly trained as their foreign counterparts. "Many European countries have been dealing with terrorism for a long time," Hofbauer said. "In this country, flight crews were taught to use negotiation during hijackings to minimize loss of life. It never occurred to the industry that one of our commercial planes would be used as a missile of destruction."

Hofbauer also noted that many factors played in to the events of Sept. 11, one of which was the weather. The crystal-clear air on the east coast on that day allowed the hijackers to pinpoint their targets with deadly accuracy. "They couldn't have pulled it off at such great speeds unless the weather was perfect, "Hofbauer said.

The terrorists also took flight lessons in the United States which included use of a simulator. Hofbauer said that people can rent sophisticated versions of commercial jet cockpits for about $5,000 an hour. "It's not unusual for corporate pilots to use the simulators in flight safety training exercises," he said. "Anyone can have access to these simulators with some training and money."

Hofbauer added that the terrorists trained with a computer program as well that allowed them to "practice" hitting the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon.

The Greenville man had a suggestion that might help pilots in future hijacking attempts: a device that could be installed to limit altitude in an unscheduled descent. "The pilot could arm it and the plane could not descend any lower. It wouldn't necessarily stop the plane from crashing, but it could help stop people from diving into buildings and other targets," Hofbauer said. "It could work in such a way that ground crews or the FAA could turn it off," he added.

Hofbauer also said that the terrorists had planned this attack carefully, and over a length of time. He figures that the planes that slammed into the World Trade Center could have been traveling up to speeds of 350 knots or 400 miles per hour. "A person has to be very careful not to over-control the plane at that rate of speed," he said thoughtfully. "The people that perpetrated this terrorist act trained and practiced. They didn't learn that kind of thing overnight."