ALPA Advocates Bill to Arm Flight Deck Crews
Let the Pilots know we back them.
Posted on 05/21/2002 7:34:17 AM PDT by Cagey
WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal government said Tuesday that pilots will not be allowed to have guns in the cockpits of commercial airplanes.
The announcement was made at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing by John Magaw, undersecretary for transportation security. It followed months of debate over whether arming pilots would be a deterrent to hijackers.
Both Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge previously indicated their opposition to arming pilots.
Magaw gave no reason for his decision, which was announced in response to a question from Arizona Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the committee.
Airline pilots have been pushing for guns, saying it would allow them to confront a hijacker who breaks into the cockpit. Hijackers took over four commercial airlines on Sept. 11, crashing two of them into the World Trade Center and a third into the Pentagon. The fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
Flight attendants, meanwhile, have advocated nonlethal weapons, such as stun guns, that they could use in emergencies.
Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., who chairs the Commerce Committee, said guns would not be needed as long as pilots kept cockpit doors locked while in flight.
"You can put the rule in right now and cut out all the argument about pistols and stun guns," Hollings said.
Opponents of arming pilots have said reinforced cockpit doors now required on all planes mean that pistols are unnecessary. They have also expressed concern that an errant shot might hit a passenger or damage a key electrical system on the plane.
Two House Republicans have introduced legislation to arm pilots and the House Transportation Committee is scheduled to take up the bill this week.
And if that doesn't work, a passenger strike.
Agree and agree!
Already in progress. I'm not flying commercial airlines until the pilots (minimum) are armed. Personal policy.
No guns for pilots, but if terrorists take control of the plane, a fighter jet shoots it down.
And recently a telephone number has been proposed for passengers to call in the event of a hijack:
Passenger: "Help, we've been hijacked!"
Telephone Operator: "Don't worry, mam, we'll send up a jet to blow you out of the sky immediately. Please stay on the line...."
IDIOTS!!!
Please support the pilots.
And your house will never be robbed if you lock the front door.
Hollings is self-serving slime. I wonder who bribed/contributed to him for this decision? Is he now directly on the terrorist payroll as much as he is Disney's?
Just like their friend Rosie. Protect the "elite" and screw the sheeple. What's a few lives of the great unwashed as long as they're safe, aye?
If given a choice between these possibilities and being blasted out of the sky by an F-16...well, give the freaking pilots guns.
I do agree that he should have made it clear to Norm Mineta, who should have pushed for arming of the pilots.
A simple equation, the terrorist cannot steer the plane into a building if they don't control the cockpit. The reinforced door should be a compliment to the pistol. A bullet in the hijackers head is the preferable result of a hijacking.
But, I must admit, the pilots also have the plane to use as a weapon. They can do a snap roll, which would likely send the hijackers flying, knocking them unconscious or snapping their neck even. In fact, if I were a pilot, I would make this announcement:
"With the possiblity of hijacking at an all-time high, I am asking that the following be done. If this plane is hijacked, you have 15 seconds to put your seatbelt on. For the hijackers to gain control of this plane, they will have to get into this cockpit. THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DO THAT! If a hijacking takes place, buckle your seatbelt and grab a barf bag, 'cause we are going for a ride. I will be in control of the plane the whole time, so just pretend it is a roller coaster ride. I can assure you this, no hijacker will make it to the cockpit door. After our rollercoaster ride and the hijaker(s) unconsciousness, I ask that five of the largest, strongest people on the plane get out of their seat and bludgeon the hijacker(s) to death. We clean the carpet later.I think that could be just as effective.Thanks for flying with us today."
Conversely, our crooked politicians as a whole are scared of guns because they know how they are used daily to stop crime.
Wouldn't that be the frosting on the cake ??
"Let them eat cake !"
Screw that. I ain't flying until I am armed. You don't trust me with a weapon, I don't trust you with my life.
The little prop jobber i flew on recently had a CURTAIN seperating me from the cockpit! A curtain! And I could see around it that the pilots were eating a pizza!
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