Posted on 09/09/2002 3:46:56 AM PDT by kattracks
He's "hispanic".
I keep thinking of that loser air marshall who pulled a gun on a planeload of passengers due to a routine unruly passenger incident and wonder.
We simply assume that all pilots are in perfect emotional and psychological health. That may be a serious error.
There used to be an old saying about "when you're up to your ass in alligators..."
Initial reports have not been encouraging.
Right. We all have heard about the numerous planes crashed into the ground because of the pilots undergoing divorces and having emotional problems.
If we trust them to fly the planes, we can trust them to defend the cockpit.
You may well believe that Mineta travels with "an armed guard" when he flies, as does Bush. For the unwashed masses, to hell with them.
Of course all of the single-issue conservative voters who walked away from the polls when the liberal media called Florida for Gore helped a lot too! They allowed RATs to win squeakers out west.
Thats odd. Especially since everything Ive read from the APSA centers around the pilot volunteers being deputized Federal Law Enforcement Officers.
"These figures are ridiculously over-inflated and Secretary Mineta knows it," he said. "Many highly-qualified firearms training institutions have said this training can be accomplished for less than $1,500 per pilot."
Thats also odd. The proposal that was accessible from the APSA website estimated initial costs at $1.2 billion, with an additional $200-something million yearly to maintain and oversee the program. I guess they have reached the point where they cant remember what they want and when they proposed what. It doesnt matter theyll just spout off ever-changing figures until the dupes fall for it.
A diaper headed hijacker in the cockpit IS a lethal weapon.
Thats an understatement. Im not talking about an Air Marshal either; Im talking about training scenarios that use armed pilots during takeover simulations.
People dont seem to understand the demonstrated fact that if an attacker can get within four to five feet of you in an enclosed space you will never get the chance to draw your weapon. Well, you will get something on the order of a little less than 4%, but that decreases to 0% when you consider whether they actually got a chance to discharge a round.
A lot of people either havent thought things through clearly or dont understand that training programs have been in the works since before the buildings fell on 9/11 and that the results using armed pilots have not been encouraging at all when faced with trained opponents.
I suspect a lot of them also thought throwing billions of dollars away federalizing the screeners was going to accomplish something too.
Its not a trust issue. Its an issue of spending a ton of money on a program that is voluntary and creates a semi-federalized private employee classification while accomplishing nothing.
If you want pilots to defend the cockpit you will have to seal them in like tuna in a can because trained attackers will overrun them whether they are armed or not if they can access them. They can still access them, BTW.
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