You really need to read the 9/11 Comissions report, just the beginning part on how the hijackings went down and the way hijackings are handled by NORAD and the FAA, in order to understand how terrible the handling of the hijacking was. No one knows how the hijackers got into the cockpit for sure, if the doors were locked, and the pilots never signalled a hijacking in progress. I'm sure had they had any idea what was about to happen they would have been able to stop it. It was the simple fact that up until that point the best way to keep as many people alive as possible had been simply to listen to the hijackers and do what they say, we were never worried about this method of using an airplane as a weapon before, particularly in the case of a domestic flight. 5 people w/ pepper spray and box cutters/knives vs. 55 people? The hijackers never should have been succesful. Fact is on 9/11 if the pilots had guns, based upon how things went down, chances are they wouldn't have actually gotten to use them, especially if they were locked away.