Ridge comment on pilots out of step

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Wednesday, March 6, 2002 | By Jon Dougherty

[wcbtinman]

"The potential for some idiot to take the thing off me is greater than the percieved benefit."

Yeah, this happens to cops all the time.That's why you would carry the weapon concealed.

Tell me, that with your kind of logic, they don't really let you at the controls of an airplane...Do they?

[Wurlitzer]

""Just as the First and Fourth Amendments secure individual rights of speech and security respectively,"

Try boarding a plane with that logic. There is no Fourth Amendment protection.

[Wurlitzer]

Mind telling us what airline you work for so we can avoid it?

[Texas Mom]

If weapons are allowed I won't carry one and any crewmwember in my cockpit with a firearm will have to give it, or the bullets, to me. Barney Fife isn't welcome in my cockpit.

Sir, you scare the hell out of me. I have found most people who are against the pilots arming themselves were against anyone arming themselves, even before Sept 11th? I guess the Barney Fife comment gave you away.

[Texas Mom]

Let me get this straight: You want airline pilots equipped with a device that distributes several thousand volts over very short range in the hopes that it will deter/stun an attacker, but your airline makes me turn off my palm pilot before takeoff? Try again!

LOL!

[lonestar]

Thank you and I wouldn't mind being on your flight. When I'm flying I want the pilot's attention on flying.

I think we've seen the passengers have done a good job of taking down passengers who need to be taken down.

I don't want to be on a plane with bullets flying around.

Tom Ridge? My opinion, I don't envy him.

[Texas Mom]

I don't want to be on a plane with bullets flying around.

Oh good grief. The bullets would only be shot IF the terrorist got into the cockpit. The pilot wouldn't come out of the cockpit shooting for heavens sake.

The cockpit is the last line of defense. The majority of the pilots are former military PLUS they would receive further FBI training. You'll trust a pilot with a 20 million dollar plane but won't trust him with a gun?

[hattend]

"I don't think we want to equip our pilots with firearms," Ridge said. "That doesn't make a lot of sense to me." Asked why, Ridge replied, "Where would it end?"

Well, it probably wouldn't end 200 stories up.

Why should you have bodyguards Mr. Ridge? The only person who really needs them is the President.

[Don Joe]

"Pilots are in no position to repel intruders in any case since their flying duties require them to face foward."

In that case, pilots should be given a card, similar in concept to the "miranda card", which they can read -- loudly, since they'll be facing forward -- to terrorists who breach the cockpit door:

"Attention Terrorist -- I am required to face forward at all times. Please leave the cockpit until such time as the airplane has landed and stopped all taxi motion. At that time I will be able to turn around to face you, and listen to what you have to say. If you are not prepared to leave the cockpit until that time, it is imperative that you go about your business in such a way that does not require me to turn around to face you. Thank you for flying Stupidia, and have a nice day."

[Don Joe]

"At least get someone with the reasoning skills to recognize that a pilot already has hundreds of times the power and responsibility by flying a planeload of passengers, as he does by packing a Chief's S&W .38 special."

We don't need to arm pilots, because we already have F16 jets ready to shoot the airliners out of the sky.

See? It all makes perfect sense.

[Don Joe]

"If you think I'm walking through a terminal with a big iron strapped to my hip you're nuts."

If you think I'm walking through the terminal to ride on your plane, you're nuts.

[Don Joe]

"Yes, I believe the potential is high for bad guys to use the weapon against me, my crew and my passengers. Bad guys take guns off cops everyday and use them against them and they're trained law enforcement officers."

OK, so now that we've established just how bright you are, and that you're quite willing to buy into the HCI agitprop hook, line, and sinker, the only remaining question is what are you doing here, when you'd clearly be much more at home at DU?

[Don Joe]

"If weapons are allowed I won't carry one and any crewmwember in my cockpit with a firearm will have to give it, or the bullets, to me."

Does anyone else see the blatant contradiction in Captain Einstein's little rant?

[Don Joe]

"We have tranquilizer guns to being down ( don't know how many tons/pounds) of elephant, so what would a logical reason be not to arm our pilots with such a weapon ? One shot of this would immediately imobilize the perpetrator/terrorist, thus, eliminating and damage to the cockpit or plane."

Yeah, "immediately" being "five to fifteen minutes", presuming the perp is naked. Or did you forget that the only thing animals wear is hair?

[Don Joe]

"When I'm flying I want the pilot's attention on flying."

Just like those pilots on 9/11, right?

"I don't want to be on a plane with bullets flying around."

I don't want to be on a plane with office buildings coming up fast in front of the cockpit.

[Terriergal]

My thoughts exactly.

[Arkie2]

Well, since you don't know who I fly with you'll just have to take your chances won't you. Since you obviously prefer everyone on the airplane armed please let me know who you are so the next time you board my plane I can ask the guys in the white coats to please remove you for the safety of the rest of my pax. You're exactly the kind of guy I don't want anywhere near my cockpit.

[Don Joe]

Arrogant little SOB, aren't you. Yup, you're a pilot alright. 99% of the airline stoolies I've encountered have been arrogant little SOBs too, and that was prior to 9/11.

Sorry to ruin your wetdream, but I have no intention of flying, period, until and unless the airlines get their sh*t in order. And frankly, I can't see that happening any time soon.

So you can keep your precious space ethnically pure of normal folks like me, who are leaving the breadlines of the sky in droves.

[Don Joe]

PS: let me guess -- NWA? And trained to offend at back at Republic?

[Arkie2]

Yep, arrogant, good, and trained to save your sorry butt from everything from a depressurization to an inflight fire to a loss of all engines. Just don't ask me to be your cop.