[sharktrager]

How log can they keep the planes safe if they stand out? Unless there is one on each flight, terrorists will just wait until they are on a plane without a marshal.

Also, as was pointed out by another poster, the terrorists would know who to neutralize, and would simply make that the first thing they do. The, in addition to whatever makeshift weapons they managed to smuggle aboard, they would also have a gun.

The ideal situation is a mix of unformed officers and undercover marshals. The uniformed guys remind us that there are marshals, and the undercover guys have us wondering if there is one on our flight.

Now, the security thing is actually pretty easy to get past. If the marshals first board a commuter plane at a small airport, they won'\'t have to pass through screening at any of the larger airports with the flights that truly need protection.

[aviator]

A gun in every cockpit...............

[eno_]

The ideal situation is a mix of unformed officers and undercover marshals.

That would only serve to remind the peasants that Air Marshals are for flights with High Government Officials on board.

You are on your own. But rest assured the Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development won't be crashing into a Pennsylvannia hill. Feel better now?