OK, this is somewhat editorial, but its also news, I think.
In answer to a question about a provision for pilots being armed...This is what I can find. Don't know if this answers the question...
Sec. 44918. Enhanced security measures
`(a) IN GENERAL- To the extent the Under Secretary of Transportation for Security determines appropriate, the Under Secretary shall take the following actions:
`(1) After consultation with the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, develop procedures and authorize equipment for pilots and other members of the flight crew to use to defend an aircraft against acts of criminal violence or aircraft piracy.
`(2) After consultation with the Administrator, develop and implement methods to--
`(A) restrict the opening of a cockpit door during a flight;
`(B) fortify cockpit doors to deny access from the cabin to the cockpit;
`(C) use video monitors or other devices to alert pilots in the cockpit to activity in the cabin; and
`(D) ensure continuous operation of an aircraft transponder in the event of an emergency.
`(3) Impose standards for the screening or inspection of persons and vehicles having access to secure areas of an airport.
`(4) Require effective 911 emergency call capability for telephones serving passenger aircraft and passenger trains.
`(5) Provide for the use of voice stress analysis or other technologies to prevent a person who might pose a danger to air safety or security from boarding the aircraft of an air carrier or foreign air carrier in air transportation or intrastate air transportation.
`(6) Develop standards and procedures for the issuance, renewal, and revocation of a certificate of qualification for individuals who screen passengers and property at an airport.
`(7) Establish performance goals for individuals described in paragraph (6), provide for the use of threat image projection or similar devices to test such individuals, and establish procedures to revoke the certification of such individuals if the individuals fail to maintain a required level of proficiency.
`(8) In consultation with air carriers and other government agencies, establish policies and procedures requiring air carriers to use information from government agencies to identify individuals on passenger lists who may be a threat to civil aviation and, if such an individual is identified, to notify appropriate law enforcement agencies and prohibit the individual from boarding an aircraft.
`(9) Provide for the enhanced use of computer profiling to more effectively screen passengers and property that will be carried in the cabin of an aircraft.
`(10) Provide for the use of electronic technology that positively verifies the identity of each employee and law enforcement officer who enters a secure area of an airport.
`(11) After consultation with the Administrator, provide for the installation of switches in an aircraft cabin to enable flight crews to discreetly notify the pilots in the case of a security breach occurring in the cabin.
`(12) Update training procedures used by the Federal Aviation Administration, law enforcement agencies, air carriers, and flight crews during hijackings to include measures relating to suicidal hijackers and other extremely dangerous events not currently described in the training procedures.
`(13) Provide for background checks of individuals seeking instruction (including training through the use of flight simulators) in flying aircraft that has a minimum certificated takeoff weight of more than 12,500 pounds.
`(14) Enter into agreements with Federal, State, and local agencies under which appropriately-trained law enforcement personnel from such agencies, when traveling on a flight of an air carrier, will carry a firearm and be prepared to assist Federal air marshals.
`(15) Require more thorough background checks of persons described in subparagraphs (A), (B)(i), and (B)(ii) of section 44936(a) and paragraph (13) of this subsection, including a review of immigration records, law enforcement databases, and records of other government and international agencies to help determine whether the person may be a threat to civil aviation.
`(16) Establish a uniform system of identification for all State and local law enforcement personnel for use in obtaining permission to carry weapons in aircraft cabins and in obtaining access to a secured area of an airport.
`(17) Establish requirements under which air carriers, under the supervision of the Under Secretary, could implement trusted passenger programs and use available technologies to expedite the security screening of passengers who participate in such programs, thereby allowing security screening personnel to focus on those passengers who should be subject to more extensive screening.
`(18) In consultation with the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, develop security procedures under which a medical product to be transported on a flight of an air carrier would not be subject to manual or x-ray inspection if conducting such an inspection would irreversibly damage the product.
`(19) Develop security procedures to allow passengers transporting a musical instrument on a flight of an air carrier to transport the instrument in the passenger cabin of the aircraft, notwithstanding any size or other restriction on carry-on baggage but subject to such other reasonable terms and conditions as may be established by the Under Secretary or the air carrier, including imposing additional charges by the air carrier.
`(20) Provide for the use of wireless and wire line data technologies enabling the private and secure communication of threats to aid in the screening of passengers and other individuals on airport property who are identified on any State or Federal security-related data base for the purpose of having an integrated response coordination of various authorized airport security forces.