[JETDRVR]

"We've pregressed quite a bit since the 1940's when the pilot had to have his hands on the control stick at all times. Now we have such things as autopilot as well as multiple people in the cockpit, all of them capable of taking control of the plane if they had to."


Uhhhhhhhh sir I do this for a living! Gulfstreams Falcons Citations so yes Im quite familiar with automation on todays aircraft. My point is in a worst case scenario eg: Camel jocks in question manage to kill A. the sky marshals B. both pilots.......arming pilots will only take them away from their primary dutys flying the airplane. We need to solve the more important issue of placing shooters in the back of the acft where they should be!

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

Im quite familiar with automation on todays aircraft...

Good. Then you understand that it's better for a pilot to take care of any problems that will bring the plane down, rather than sit there and get his throat slit. (hard to control the plane while dead)

Yes, air marshals will be great but we can't put a set of them on every flight. We do put pilots on every flight.

[Hunble]

We need to solve the more important issue of placing shooters in the back of the acft where they should be!

Armed citizens who are willing to protect their and your life, is the obvious answer. They are "in the back" and know what is going on.

To me, each and every American boarding an airliner should be issued a knife or other weapon as they step into the aircraft.

"Let's Roll!"

[freeeee]

arming pilots will only take them away from their primary dutys flying the airplane.

Since you're a pilot, maybe you can tell me what's wrong with this scenerio:

Terrorists take over the passenger cabin. They have overcome whatever resistance they find there, be it marshalls if there are any and the passengers.

Next they attempt to get into the cockpit to take control of the plane. The pilot engages the autopilot (if it already isn't engaged) or the co-pilot takes control.

The pilot aims his weapon at the small door a few feet away. When anyone comes through it, he shoots until the attackers are disabled or he runs out of ammo. This is no difficult feat of marksmanship. Almost anyone could do it.

So, where's the problem?