In the second world war spies were getting sharp coins with them maby you could use that to cut your seatbelt

Rather than flirt with a federal felony charge of trying to smuggle a knife onto an airplane, which IS what we are talking about, let's think about the problem that we faced.<br>Most planes that crash, crash during take off or after departure and during the approach and while landing. I think that we all agree that MOST airline crashes do not involve a jet simply falling out of the sky. The crash several years ago that scared my daughter out of flying is the exception. Those airplanes make a small smoking hole when they land.<br>Airliners that crash on take off are heavily laden with fuel and break up on impact, spilling Jet A everywhere. Those near the end of their flight are less heavily loaded with fuel, but are required by FAA regs to carry sufficient fuel for an approach, missed approach and flight time to their alternate with an approach.<br>The likelihood of surviving such a crash is low. In military crash investigation training, I was not given information that would make me believe that getting trapped in a seatbelt that would not release was a problem. <br>I guess as a result of that, I would not think that there is a significant advantage in posessing an edged item that woudl justify the risk of arrest in today's climate.<br>When flying with the Army, I replaced the crappy Camillus "survival knife" with a Gerber LMF with a SHARP edge. The ribbing I got from my pilots was rebuffed with my belief that if I needed a knife in an emergency, I would REALLY need it in a big way. I don't think that there is a lot of compromise in that thinking.<br>Just an opinion......and we all have one.