> It would be illegal in Germany to shoot down a hijacked airliner and ordering the pilot to do so would be an illegitimate order the pilot would be forbidden from following

Yeah we're going need a source on that. Don't even think of pulling up that vague Grundgesetz about human dignity, the legality of refusing an order would be established AFTER the fact. To call such an order illegal before any court judgement is the very thing that you are branding as an alternative fact.