I know someone who's an Air Marshal in the US. He's very inconspicuous in general - in fact I found it hard to believe he was a marshall when I found out!!
They travel in a variety of cabins -not always in the pointy end. They also fly on a wide variety of routes - domestic and international.
My understanding is their job is to make sure that the safety of all on board is preserved, not just those in the cockpit. I guess they have to monitor the other passengers to pre-empt anything, rather than protect the cockpit once something kicks off.
I also know someone who used to be security at LHR, another friend works for immigration, and one of my old mates dads used to be a customs official. They all tell me that you develop a "6th sense" for spotting nefarious miscreants before they start misbehaving. I'm sure the same will apply to air marshalls - i.e. they'll have people "marked" and under observation long before they're spotted themselves by Joe Average.
They travel in a variety of cabins -not always in the pointy end. They also fly on a wide variety of routes - domestic and international.
My understanding is their job is to make sure that the safety of all on board is preserved, not just those in the cockpit. I guess they have to monitor the other passengers to pre-empt anything, rather than protect the cockpit once something kicks off.
I also know someone who used to be security at LHR, another friend works for immigration, and one of my old mates dads used to be a customs official. They all tell me that you develop a "6th sense" for spotting nefarious miscreants before they start misbehaving. I'm sure the same will apply to air marshalls - i.e. they'll have people "marked" and under observation long before they're spotted themselves by Joe Average.
