You know, I’m wondering…all this absurd expense and hassle and intrusion we’ve allowed since 9-11 - wouldn’tit have been much much less expensive to simply have armed guard on all flights? Even 2 maybe? Armed with whatever could incapacitate a terrorist without depressurizing the cabin maybe.
I mean I’m all for pilots having guns, but I don’t know if 100% would want to or be competent in its use. We always seem to do the most expensive least effective thing as a country…..the cancer of the bureaucratic state.
Rand Paul: a legislative priority is we need guns in the cockpit.
I'm wondering where Rand's head is ...
After 9/11 they started using armed air marshals on flights, or so I heard at the time. The problem is if Muslims (or old ladies in wheel chairs, since I don’t want to profile) were doing as much planning as they did in the first attack, couldn’t they kill the armed marshal as the first order of business and get his gun? Even though they were pretending to be passengers, it might not have been hard to notice that they never got off the plane. On the other hand, the terrorists had to physically break down the doors to the cockpits, giving the pilots plenty of time to prepare.
I dunno.
I have never heard of ANY pistol that comes close to the difficulty of flying even a Piper Cub—let alone a 777.
Somehow, I think pilots can manage to handle guns—especially revolvers.
Better yet—reverse the seats of the first few rows and seat ‘carrying’ passengers there. Guns up front!
Uh, not compitent to be armed, but compitent to fly your rear around the world at .80 Mach?
Couple of things the pilots can do right now that they don't need any extra gear for or any permission from the nanny state. If/when some rag-head starts trying to break into the cockpit... One, depressurize the cabin. Jamal will be unconscious in a few seconds if he doesn't get his backside back to a seat and a mask. Two, violently maneuver the aircraft. Jamal will be a red stain on the cabin ceiling - the nose of the aircraft is very far away from the pitch center and can experience extreme G forces both positive and negative.
Granted, #1 is not a long term solution but it ends the immediate threat. Some passengers had better man-up and decide it is better to go down fighting that let Jamal have his way. A commercial pilot told me #2, said he and some fellow pilots had decided that a few broken bones on some other passengers was worth it. Said he could knock out anyone outside the cockpit door in about 30 seconds with a few violent pitch maneuvers.
They were in the mid-late 30's, sitting on aisle seats, looking around a lot and each had a bulge in the upper left suit pocket. Tough looking monkeys and we felt safe on that flight.
A couple bullet holes are not going to depressurise an airplane came
That's why all passengers that want to carry firearms on the flight should arm them with prefrag ammo like Glaser safety slugs. I imagine the airport gift shops would charge to much for them so passengers would need to plan ahead a little.
An Aloha Airlines airplane that developed a sunroof in-flight survived; a bullet hole could be patched with a section of a beer can and duct tape and the airplane returned to service until its next scheduled maintenance.
Up until the 1970’s if a US commercial flight carried US mail with a high dollar value, the US Postal Service handed a holstered, loaded revolver the First Officer of the flight crew... I have been told that by at least 5 old time pilots... The nanny states stopped it after the increase of high jacking’s and RFK being shot.
Some how nobody was maimed or killed! Wow!