Posted on 09/07/2003 4:53:10 PM PDT by Gritty
Suppose terrorists sneak aboard your flight. Perhaps they have failed to smuggle (conventional, metallic) weapons on board. What they do have are their intentions, their training, and their willingness to die. The flight attendants solicit your attention, and explain what to do in the event of an emergency. They demonstrate the use of the oxygen masks and the flotation devices. There's a short film. Then you hear from one of the pilots. "Welcome aboard. This is Joe, your flight captain. We're cruising at such-and-such thousand feet, at such-and-such miles per hour. The skies are clear and we expect smooth sailing. And oh, by the way--I'm unarmed. And the co-pilot is unarmed. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight." No sane pilot would announce that the residents of the cockpit are easy pickings. But if such an in-flight admission were indeed made on an American jumbo jet in the America of September 11, 2003, would any stray terrorists among the passengers learn anything they don't already know? Here's the problem. Two years after the 911 attacks--almost a year after Congress authorized a broad program to arm commercials pilots--the Transportation Security Administration is dragging its feet, making it almost impossible for pilots to defend themselves against lethal force with lethal force of their own. The TSA prefers air marshals to handle the last-line-of-defense type thing. Which is fine, so long as the bad guys pick a plane with an air marshal, and the air marshal succeeds in overpowering the bad guys when the bad guys make their move. Back when Congress was debating whether pilots should or should not be in a position to shoot at terrorists who breach the cockpit, some persons wondered whether pilots could be trusted with so dangerous an object as a gun. Perhaps instead of steering the plane the pilots would accidentally shoot up the instrument panel or something. At the time, Transportation Committee Chairman Don Young observed that "armed F-16s are prepared to shoot down any commercial jet that is hijacked by terrorists.... [W]e must allow trained and qualified pilots to serve as the last line of defense against such a potential disaster." Even Senator Barbara Boxer, normally in favor of victim disarmament, stressed the obvious. She asked us to imagine, should another 911-style attack occur, "how the survivors of all those passengers and crew will feel if we failed to allow pilots to have guns to defend the plane and an American flight was brought down by the American military." Pilots and passengers won the congressional battle over authorizing pilot self-defense. But the agency charged with the implementation isn't implementing. The TSA is actively deterring pilots from applying for arms training. In pursuit of its obstructionist agenda, TSA is: So today, two years after 911, less than 150 pilots are qualified to bear arms in the cockpit. It's as if the terrorists have found a way to infiltrate the Transportation Security Administration. Thousands of pilots could be trained in short order if the agency simply farmed out the job to private training academies. But that's too easy and sensible for government work. There are over 66,000 members of the Air Pilots Association. On any particular day there may be anywhere from 4,500 to 7,500 commercial planes in the air at any one moment. Basically, we're telling the terrorists: "Don't worry. The chances are vanishingly low that either pilot on the flight you pick is going to be armed." No in-flight announcement needed.
Paul Jacob is Senior Fellow at U.S. Term Limits, a Townhall.com member group.
Absurd.
Thousands of pilots could be trained in short order if the agency simply farmed out the job to private training academies
Sure they could, why not? what else do they have to do? Fly planes? They aren't busy at all!
All pilots with the major air carriers have flexibility enough in their schedules to do the training without much problem. This could easily be scheduled, especially as they wouldn't be all training at once.
I believe Carter signed an Executive Order which did away with the requirement that pilots who might be carrying US Mail be armed. I don't know why Bush hasn't signed an Executive Order reinstating the requirement.
Not having them armed is beyond stupid.
And trained!
Memo to Terrorists*: Fear me. There are millions like me. You will not hijack any aircraft upon which I am a passenger without killing me first. If you try I will strangle you with my belt, kick you in the b*lls with my steel-toed cowboy boots or break your heathen neck with my bare hands. I will not stand by and allow this nation to become paralyzed by your threats and attacks.
Arming Pilots is only part of the solution. As in wars past, a patiotic, well-informed, well prepared citizenry is the key to victory.
I pray that there are enough of us to get the mission accomplished.
Proofreading gets difficult at my age.
In the movie "Julie" made in 1956, the pilot is contacted from the ground because there is a murderer on board and the pilot is asked something like, "You keep a revolver there with you, don't you?" The implication was that it would be rare if the pilot was not armed.
Having "armed" pilots should be as much a part of the aircraft emergency equipment as the emergency escape chutes. Each is essential to saving the lives of passengers in an emergency situation. We're not talking about "normal" procedures here.
That said, it is preferable for the pilots to be well trained in the most effective use of their armed force just as they are well trained on their other emergency procedures. They will be much more effective in a pinch. But, right now, not only are they being denied carrying the guns, but they are denied the good training that goes with them - all of which could save many lives and untold billions of dollars in damage.
These TSA phoobahs are worse than negligent here. If they slow-rolled necessary emergency aircraft fixes to known, dangerous mechanical problems like they are doing to this "fix", they would be subject fines and criminal penalties.
The fact this has been mandated by Congress and law instead of just the FAA makes their criminal negligence all the more astounding!
This is not as farfetched as some may think. On large military aircraft with crewmembers besides just pilots, other crewmembers besides the pilots are armed to prevent hijacking or sabotage.
I've never heard anybody complain about that.
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