It nearly always ends badly. And very rarely do you get what you want (the movie Airheads is a possible exception). Even if you manage to get some sort of escape vehicle out of the negotiations (boat, car, helicopter, plane), it’s not that hard for you to be followed, then apprehended – and charged – once you arrive at your destination. So why do people take hostages?
Take this lady recently in the paper. Her friend was fired (let go, laid off, released, terminated, whatever), so she took a shotgun into the plant where her friend worked and took three people hostage. How can this even seem like an acceptable solution? What do these people hope to gain from their actions?
At least if you’re robbing a bank or something, you can pretend that the hostages will get you out of immediate danger (see earlier comment about escape vehicle). But what could you possibly want – that those hostages might provide – when your friend lost their job?