Could wireless kit foil airline hijacks?

Flight attendants may soon be outfitted with wireless devices that would be used to alert pilots of attempted hijackings or other security threats to flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Wednesday that it plans to require airlines to provide a way for the cabin crew to "discreetly notify" pilots "in the event of suspicious activity or security breaches in the cabin".

The proposed regulation, which is not yet final, grew out of an advisory panel that the Transportation Department created after the 11 September, 2001 terrorist attacks. That panel recommended cabin crews have "a method for immediate notification to the flight deck during a suspected threat in the cabin" that would permit pilots to take appropriate action, such as beginning an immediate landing.

An FAA spokeswoman said some airlines have offered flight attendants that kind of alert system "for quite some time". But the FAA wanted to make it official, she said.

The FAA's proposal does not mandate wireless devices - which Congress recommended but did not require in the law creating the Department of Homeland Security. Instead, the proposal merely says passenger flights must have an "approved means" by which flight crews could signal such an alert.

Other systems the agency mentioned as possible alternatives to wireless devices include setting up an alarm procedure using an existing communications system, such as "subtly keying the [intercom] in a specific manner".

Public comments on the proposal are due by 21 November. After final approval, airlines would have two years to comply.

Declan McCullagh writes for CNET News.com