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Posted on 10/04/2001 9:38:13 PM PDT by kattracks
Commercial airline pilots will be asked to suspend air service if they cannot have trained, armed pilots in the cockpits, a New Hampshire pilot said. A resolution that will be circulated among the various councils of the 67,000-member Air Line Pilots Association this month asks federal regulations be changed to allow for the voluntary arming of flight crew members, Robert Giuda, a United Airlines captain of Warren said. “Had we had armed pilots on Sept. 11, we wouldn’t have the horrific tragedy that we’re dealing with at this point,” Giuda said of the four hijacked jetliners. Pilots would first get training in firearms by the FBI and would use their weapons only to defend against an attempted breach of the cockpit, the resolution said. The resolution also calls for federal licensing of pilots to carry concealed weapons and for the government to indemnify air carriers and their employees against the legitimate use of a firearm. If those steps are not carried out, the resolution calls for “a national suspension of air service, at such times and in such manner as is deemed appropriate by the leadership of the Air Line Pilots Association.” “We’re hearing members of Congress say they don’t want a bunch of armed hooligans running around,” said Giuda, a New Hampshire state representative. He said there was “no more professionalized, highly-scrutinized group of people in the world than airline pilots.” The security of the flight deck cannot depend solely on armed sky marshals, he said. Sky marshals can be picked out of a crowd and, if overpowered, would provide a hijacker with a weapon, Giuda said. “It’s time to throw the gauntlet to the mat. We are going to get politicized into unarmed cockpits and then we’ll get shot with the guns the marshals used because they will be taken away from them,” he added. Arming pilots introduces the element of “risk, fear and doubt” into the mind of a potential hijacker, he said.
This turkey is acting as if it ain't gonna happen unless he's convinced it's a good idea!
Don't let him get you worked up, folks. In this "debate", his opinion ain't worth a flyspeck in a pepper factory. The pilots are gonna get what they want -- and if by some grand stroke of stupidity they don't, then the passengers will go on strike.
In fact, it would appear that the passengers have already gone on strike.
What a supercilious little b$%^&*d. Send him an e-mail at robert.giuda@leg.state.nh.us. I'm so angry right now that I need to think about what to write.
Carolyn
Carolyn
I want a job where my employer pays my ammo bill.
'death' if 'birth'; every time.
''cept maybe twice in the Old Testament.
:
The politicians and bureaucrats aren't supposed to do anything that costs the airlines money. That's why the airline special interest group lobbies government. It pays the government to look the other way. Government made it illegal for any airline to advertise its safety record. Why? Because the FAA doesn't evenly enforce regulations they set. If enforcing a regulation will cost the airline too much money and it's not considered an immediate or imminent danger (how they determine that I don't know, but it has failed just the same) then the regulation and or fine is not enforced.
It is incredibly moronic. If an airline harms or kills it's customers it should go out of business. Airlines should not be sending money to political parties to "legitimize" harming their own customers. The airlines wouldn't be able to buy political and FAA bureaucratic favors if politicians didn't put their political/government power up for sale in the first place. Snake-oil salesmen. Prostitutes that in the end, the citizens pay for, sometimes with their lives.
APAP
Airline Passengers for Armed Pilots
Consider yourself a charter member if you are in favor of the concept and have written at least one email, letter, or fax to a congresscritter on this subject.
Anecdotally, both of the Delta pilots of my acquaitance are ex-military, one of them is my state senator. One flew F/A-18's in the Marines, the other C-130's in the Air Force. Both are class acts, the kind of people I would be more than happy to have walking around with sidearms, on an aircraft on which I was a passenger.
They are being asked to take unecesarry risks that could easily be prevented but is being (IMHO) "illegally" blocked by the Federal government. FAA regulations already allow for pilots to carry weapons but the regulation is written in such a way that no pilot could carry without first meeting a FAA approved course which the FAA has intentionally never defined.
They are not setting policy, there simply stating that they won't come back to work and place themselves and their passengers at further risk because of stupid politicians......
Do you have the nerve to put your livelyhood on the line for principal. Would you walk in today to your employer and tell them you needed to carry a weapon to protect yourself and your customers from harm???
This is very courageous on the pilots part and is not a self absorbed "union" move to increase pay or benefits.....
NeverGore
Damn right! And I won't feel secure on board a plane until the pilots are armed.
Yes, and four of them did just that on 9/11. That's why they should be armed.
You can always trust the good Ol' USA to do the stoopid thing, can't ya?
That determination should be made by the people who have a clue about the situation -- the pilots.
The proper function of government is protection of citizens against war and crime. An employer that wants to run potential flying bombs around the country without taking prudent steps to keep them secure is a legitimate subject of government concern, up to and including laws prohibiting such recklessness. QED.
The People's Republic of Taxachusettes?
For people who take the former view, it only stands to unreason that pilots should not be exposed to an object that will slowly corrupt its bearer, like the One Ring.
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