I could be wrong, but since the dog served two tours in Afghanistan I would doubt that he would be spooked by turbulent weather. These dogs are highly trained, even more than service dogs which travel in the cabin on a regular basis. Traveling in the cargo area is not always safe.
You have a good point about other passengers possibly being apprehensive. Perhaps the dog and handler could have boarded last and deplaned first. From what the article said they were going to the DNC for security purposes, not on a pleasure trip.
I guess because I watched a special about 9/11 prior to reading this article, it crossed my mind that if there had been a couple of military dogs on those flights, things might have turned out very differently.
>>I could be wrong, but since the dog served two tours in Afghanistan I would doubt that he would be spooked by turbulent weather.
But you can’t be certain.
>>You have a good point about other passengers possibly being apprehensive. Perhaps the dog and handler could have boarded last and deplaned first. From what the article said they were going to the DNC for security purposes, not on a pleasure trip.
Oh great. Let’s say you have a fear of large dogs and you get on a plane. Just before they shut the door, they put a large attack dog in the passenger compartment just a few seats away from you. If you make a ruckus to get off, you get arrested. What do you do?
>>I guess because I watched a special about 9/11 prior to reading this article, it crossed my mind that if there had been a couple of military dogs on those flights, things might have turned out very differently.
Really?? You’re invoking the “anything goes, if you can make the claim that it could have prevented 9/11” clause? How many freedoms and inconveniences has that one cost us over the past decade?
I believe the pilot was just being overly cautious about this type of dog riding in the cabin(i.e. trained to attack if necessary). Which I do not have a problem with, since he is responsible for the passengers safety. However, even service dogs can be a problem, if the circumstances are right. I do not think this is a US Airways problem, just this pilot being overly careful.
I say that because, I just flew back from Phoenix to Ohio, and there were 2 service dogs on the flight. The staff went out of their way to take care of the dogs, before the flight. Taking them for a walk and taking them to the bathroom. In the terminal, you would have thought the dogs were famous, as everyone, including, US Airways staff, and many people on the flight, wanted to pet them. The people were pretty easy going and even though they should not have done it, they allowed them to do so. The dogs seemed to have a calming affect on those waiting to get on the flight, instead of making them nervous.
During the whole flight, which was turbulent, no one even heard one peep from the dogs. That is more than I can say about some people that fly and cannot handle flying in general, or turbulent weather.
If I had the choice I would pick the dogs over people.