A Treatise on Air Piracy

By Steven Ganske ("Starkweather")

Apologies & Introduction

Upon your request, I have sent you the preliminary version of this treatise on the subject of Air Piracy. I hope that the work thus far will enlighten you regarding the theory and practice of air piracy. I also warn you that large portions of the work thus far are more based in theory and hearsay rather than physical evidence. I hope that upon seeing this, that you will remedy this problem by releasing certain files and testimonies into my care for study, as I requested numerous times before.

Randolph Kerinski

In examining air piracy, we must look at the goals and problems of the air pirate. If we do this, we will be able to predict the general tactics that the air pirate will use. Obviously, the ultimate goal of an air pirate is to gain something of material value from another aeroplane illicitly. However, the air pirate faces a series of obstacles in front of that goal.

Part 1: Location


To steal something, the air pirate must be aware of its existence beforehand. So thus the Air pirate has three courses to take in pursuit of this goal.

Using existing news sources and the pirate's own experience to learn of the object of value. For example, if it is broadcast that the Rattling Ruby of Rustania is being shipped to a new museum, then the air pirate has a valuable target to strike. Likewise, if the air pirate discovers a government treasury plane that is carrying large amounts of cash, then the air pirate will probably prowl along the route that the plane took in hopes of discovering more treasury planes.

Another route the pirate may take is by infiltration and espionage, with the typical targets being jewel merchants, banks, and auction houses. This method will probably only be used by pirates that are well established and can gather the capital to pay off spies and bribe employees. A pirate who is starting such an spy network will probably regard it as a gamble, and will probably abandon this line of information gathering if it proves unprofitable. However, the pirate who has a well-established spy network (that has paid for itself) will regard it as access to new levels of riches and will more likely view setbacks, and the occasional false bit of information, as simple operating expenses.

Lastly, the pirate can throw his fate to the winds and randomly attack any targets that present themselves. This is the method most beginning pirates use and it is also the most unprofitable for both the pirate and the air transportation industry. Unprofitable for the pirate, because more likely than not, the pirate would have obtained goods instead of cash or jewels and thus must either make use of the materials or barter/sell them. This means that the pirate must risk capture in going to shore to sell the goods and has the risk of leaving evidence of his passage. Not only is this unprofitable because of the risks above, but there is also the risk of there being little demand for their wares and thus the air pirate must charge below market price for his ill-gotten gains.

It is also most unprofitable for air transportation, because it generates an atmosphere of fear and causes clients to use different means of transportation. Of all kinds of pirates, a band of blindly marauding pirates can be the most damaging to aeroplane-based transport economies and thus must be given priority over the more successful and subtle bands of pirates.

The next problem that an air pirate faces is the problem of actually finding the plane. Again there are probably three methods that the air pirate uses.

Again, the answer is research. The pirate will use various sources including spying, using publicly available information, and even asking the pilots what the route they were taking, as what happened in one spectacular case. (The pilots were not aware of what they were transporting.)

Of course, research will very rarely provide a plane's exact location at a certain time, and sometimes will not reveal anything but the general area of the flight that the air pirate is looking for (because the heads of security for the flight had actually done their job for a change). So, the air pirate is forced to spread his forces and sweep the skies looking for his prey. Considering the technology that air pirates usually possess, there are additional problems, namely a lack of two-way radios so that even if the target is found, the pirate's forces will be spread out all over the ocean and will need time to regroup and commence the attack.

Some intelligent air pirates have realized this and have decided to break their forces into wolf packs of two to six planes, sacrificing some search ability for rapid response when the target is found. Even more intelligent pirates have made use of a "chase plane," which is usually an unarmed race plane with a two-way radio. The plane is moored near where the target plane is moored so that when the target plane takes off, the chase plane will follow and report on the plane's location, thus freeing the bulk of the air pirate's force to come to bear in capturing the plane. Of course, the air pirate with no intended target will probably just set up a sweep or wolf pack search on a popular shipping route and pick off the planes that come his way.

Subsection 1: Normal methods

One of the most insidious ways that the air pirate will use is skyjacking. Skyjacking is the infiltration of air pirates into the crew or passengers of an air flight. After the plane is too far away to fly to get help, the air pirates will overpower the innocents of the flight and then fly the plane to a different landing strip. The plane is either stripped of parts or conscripted into the pirate's ragtag air force and the passengers are usually either ransomed or outright killed — although to be fair, there have been some air pirates that let passengers go relatively unmolested.

The reason why skyjacking is so insidious is that if the air pirates elect to kill off the witnesses and scuttle the plane, then there will be no evidence of pirate attack. To any observers, there will be no pirate planes swarming, just the targeted plane going down. The plane will probably be considered lost at sea.

Thankfully, due to the time involved in infiltrating a high security flight, skyjacking is relatively rare. There is an easier method for the air pirate to use to force the target craft to land, a kind of intimidation known as "boxing in" a plane. Boxing in a plane is a finely tuned version of chicken, where air pirates maneuver their planes into positions in front, behind, on top and side to side around the plane and then their planes slow down and try to force the target to land. If the target plane tests their bluff, then the rear plane will fire a few rounds into the tail section of the target. If the target repeatedly tests the bluff, then the back plane may target one of the engines, which would force the plane into an emergency landing. Of course if the plane fails to land safely, the air pirate would have inadvertently used the next method.

This method, known as "shoot and salvage," is where the air pirate just shoots the cargo plane down and then sorts through what survives the crash. It is the easiest method for the starting air pirate, because it does not require many aeroplanes or significant skill. However, it also the method that offers the least in amounts of plunder, and the most effort in extracting that plunder.

Of course, there are other ways to force a plane to crash. Some air pirates have tried to use powerful magnets to confuse the compasses of target aircraft, forcing them to eventually run out of fuel. Of course these confusion tactics work best in the night time, and the air pirate faces the possibility of not finding the plane at all when it lands or crashes.


Subsection 2: Extraordinary Methods

Lastly, we come to the most daring and complicated technique that the air pirate will use in his never-ending quest for plunder. At first, I did not believe that such a thing was possible, but there are too many reports of such a thing happening so that this just cannot be disregarded.

But why would an air pirate go to such risks in attempting a midair boarding? At first it makes no sense why an air pirate will do this when there are safer techniques, but when deeper thought is applied, one can understand that midair boarding makes for fewer resources used. (If the air pirate attempts to use stealth, then he only needs one plane to attempt a midair boarding.) It also causes less damage to the targeted plane (especially useful if the air pirate intends to press it into service for his air force). And last of all, it is the speediest way for the air pirate to extract the valuables from the targeted plane.

Of course, most air pirates do not only use one plane, but instead first box in the cargo plane to prepare it for boarding.

I face a problem here, for no eyewitness account that I have accessed gives information on just how an air pirate gets into the target plane. This means that I am forced to theorize how a pirate may do this. There are three methods that the air pirate probably uses.

The air pirates slow the target plane enough that a biplane with a wing walker may try to open a door and board. While this has been the dominant theory, there are serious problems with it. The biggest problem is of the immense difficulties in getting the wing of the pirate plane close enough to the door of the target plane because of the vortexes generated by both planes. There is also the problem in that the wing walkers would probably have to climb onto the wing and into the target plane one at a time, thus destroying the element of surprise. (And if the crew inside the target plane can repel the boarder, then the crew can probably repel all boarders to come after the first one.) But I do not doubt that some less than intelligent pirates may try this method.

In some accounts, the witness(es) noticed a rope hanging outside the door. I think that this is an important clue as to the most common way for a pirate to board a target plane.

In this method, there is a "drop plane." (Which is a plane with either a door that is behind the propellers or is equipped with bomb bay doors.) The drop plane is independent of the planes used to box in the target plane. The drop plane flies above the target plane, then the boarders use ropes to climb down and then invade the plane. This has the advantage of allowing boarders to rapidly get into the plane once the door is opened, thus allowing them to overwhelm the crew.

There is another method that I feel that air pirates will use in attempts to get inside a plane. It is similar to the second method, except that the drop plane is the top plane in the box formation, and the boarders simply climb down on top of the target plane and cut their way in.

An improved variant of this method would be if the air pirates used a retractable tube (with possible suction system to keep it firm to the top of the target plane). Both of these variants offer the air pirate a safer and more comfortable environment to work in, namely something beneath the pirate's feet. Also, the latter method allows the pirate to work without the interference of the wind.

Now that the boarder is at the door, the boarder simply has to get past it and overpower the people inside. Normally the boarder shoots the lock with a magnum or with a sawed off shotgun that is loaded with slugs.

If a door proves to be more resilient, than a boarder might use a small explosive to open the door, either by destroying the lock or hinges. Of course, explosives pose several problems to the air pirate. Too much explosive, and the target plane's internal structure will be heavily damaged and the plane might tear itself apart, smashing into the planes in the box formation. There is also the smaller problem that the boarder must move away from the door to a safe distance, which gives the crew inside the plane more time to rally against the pirates.

If the door is weak and the air pirates are depending on a strategy of stealth, the air pirate might use a crowbar or blowtorch. Of course, occasionally, the boarder can forgo all that has been said above, and check to see if the door is locked. Sadly, some pilots do not take the simple step of locking their doors, which means that the air pirate just has to use a crowbar to lever and wedge the door open.

Now that the boarder has the door open, there is the question of quelling the crew inside. First off, there might be a support aeroplane with a trainable machine gun. If the boarder faces stiff resistence (or is thrown out of the target plane to meet death below), the support aeroplane would be noticed by a signal from the boarder (or when the boarder is tossed out) to let loose with a few warning shots, either to force the defenders into defensive positions, or to reduce the number of defenders.

How air pirates arm themselves when boarding an aircraft most probably depends on the order that the boarders take. The first boarder(s) will probably have to use their weapons upon boarding, and thus will probably be armed with a melee weapon as opposed to a firearm. The reason for this is so that the boarder does not accidentally kill the pilot while fighting the rest of the crew.

After the first boarders are well on their way to subduing the crew, the second wave of boarders will get aboard. This second wave will be armed with firearms, and its purpose will be to keep the crew and pilot subdued.

But, of all the weapons that a pirate may employ, the one that is most important is fear. Fear is what will keep pirate casualties down. Fear is what will ensure that the boarding will go speedily. And the generation of fear is probably the reason why some pirates wear clothing that is laughable when seen in peaceful surroundings, but will cow the bravest of pilots in the heat of battle.

The theory above could also be used to explain why sword use is popular with air pirates, but the reasoning is simply more pragmatic. Swords are weapons that can be used to kill and maim quickly, and thus, fights against defenders tend to be shorter than if the air pirate used a different melee weapon.

After the air pirate gains control of an aircraft, there are several options open to him. The first option is to fly the plane to a temporary landing spot and offload all of the cargo onto a different plane. This option would probably be pursued only if the cargo was too large or heavy for the boarders to carry to their drop plane.

The second option for the air pirate is to get rid of the crew and impress the plane into the air pirate's service. Of course, most cargo planes are not useable in air pirate raids, so thus it will either be sold or cannibalized for parts.

The third and most used option is for the air pirate to ferry the stolen items from the targeted plane to the drop plane. After the transfer is complete, and the box formation has disbursed, then the targeted plane is delivered a crippling blow that will force it to make an emergency landing.

Randolph Kerinski

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