As the nation remains glued to their televisions and radios learning more about the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., American Airlines domestic pilot Bob Ragland, Tippecanoe Lake, said he's also trying to find out more.

"I'm just watching this and going, 'Holy cow!'" he said Tuesday afternoon. "I'm in the dark just like you."

Though not an expert, as a 12-year pilot with American Airlines and a 737 captain out of Chicago, he said, "I'm sure the (airplane) crew was dead right away. I'm sure they killed the crew."

A Boeing 767 and a Boeing 757 crashed into the World Trade Center early Tuesday morning. The two planes were carrying a total of 139 passengers, 13 flight attendants and four pilots.

Ragland said he is certain that the crews of the two aircrafts that slammed into the World Trade Center towers were not involved; that he believes it was terrorist activity. He said, in his opinion, there was no way, even with a gun to their heads, that the crew would have crashed the plane into a building such as the World Trade Center. The second plane dove straight for the World Trade Center.

"That's why I believe they were dead," he said. Of course, he said, no one will know for sure what happened until officials get the cockpit voice tapes from the aircraft, if they are found.

Though taking off and landing may be difficult, he said, "It's pretty easy to fly one of these planes."

Pilots are trained once a year on terrorist threats and how to handle them, he said. Personnel are trained to look for certain types of people who fit profiles. The crews of the planes also have code words to use should something occur.

Cockpit doors are locked and no passengers are allowed in the cockpits during flights. Ragland said the terrorists probably got into the cockpit when a flight attendant or pilot opened the door during flight, or used a gun against an attendant to get into the cockpit.

Until Tuesday, Ragland said, terrorists hijacked planes just to get to "such and such" a place. Now, the "weirdos" just want to crash the plane, he said.

One technique Ragland said he might use to throw off a hijacker would be to make the plane "roll" to throw the terrorist off guard. He said pilots are not trained to do that but that's what he learned in the military.

"They don't tell us to do that but that's what I'd do," Ragland said.

He said getting a gun onto a plane isn't easy, "it's pretty secure," he said. However, there may have been a breach of security somewhere if a gun was in fact used.

Air traffic controllers monitor the flight patterns of aircraft. If a plane is hijacked, Ragland said, the crew of the plane would have used code words to tell the controllers that something was wrong, if they could. If a plane goes off course and there is no communication between the controller and crew, Ragland said, the controller would know something is wrong.

Security, he said, is often considered a hassle by travelers, but London lives with tight security and it works fine, Ragland said.

To prevent future terrorist attacks like Tuesdays, Ragland said, security needs to be beefed up.

"What else can you do?" said Ragland. "We can't just crawl into a hole."

He said Tuesday's events were more likely to happen in the United States rather than in England because their security is tighter. He said he is sure security will be increased now because of Tuesday's terrorist attack.

European countries also have better security at their airports, he said, because "more things have happened over there than here in the U.S." He said he believes U.S. airlines will now respond with increased security.

Ragland will not quit flying planes because of the terrorism. But, he said, "It'll be on my mind, of course. I'm going to go fly." He said he got an e-mail Tuesday for him and all other pilots not to report to work until further notice.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Ragland said, he was still trying to find out who the pilots were in the hijacked planes.

He said, "I'm sure I'll probably end up knowing someone." [[In-content Ad]]