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.
Silent. Deadly. Instantaneous.
The hijackers on 9/11 WERE DISARMED! One person with a weapon could stand them off, kill them in the aisle, or at the cabin.
This is an hysterical reaction BY THE DEMOCRATS, THE GUN CONTROL LOBBY, THE LIBERALS AND THE FEDERAL GUN CONTROL BUREACRACY.
They hate, fear, and loath the idea of ANY person being able to defend themselves.
I think that you have been excoriated enough on this point, but I will pile on with one additional fact.
This is what "frangible" ammunition is made for. It does not pierce the skin of the aircraft, but it has stopping power. And, that is fact.
Flying the plane might be difficult for the pilot if he's DEAD. The idea is that armed pilots stay alive to retain control of the plane.
not trying to be Arnold Schwarzenegger blasting terrorist with guns in both hands while he lands the plane with his pinky toe.
There is a co-pilot and an auto-pilot. The vast majority of the time the plane is in the air, the plane is on auto-pilot and the flight crew monitors the instruments. Anyone charging the cockpit must pass through a small door (this type of entry point is known to some military types as "the funnel of death"), and stopping them with a handgun is like shooting fish in a barell. Even my little sister could do it.
Have you any other BS reasons for us?
OK. On 9/11, the pilots were coerced to open the cabin doors by threats to (and possibly killing) the rest of the crew. Couldn't a pilot just as easily have been coerced into giving up his gun? Now you have terrorist armed with a guns who have free access to the cockpit.
[can't wait for the heroic scenario where a pilot shoots 5 terrorists right between the eyes before any of them have a chance to slit a crewmember's throat with boxcutters]
Ya'll can talk all ya'll want about arming pilots, but flights will always be safer if the pilot never has to open to cockpit doors!
Impenetrable doors are a myth. Never before have they been created in history.
See post #84 for the Pilot's take on your question.
I wouldn't necessarily say "no armed pilots", my point is that arming the pilots is nowhere near a solutions to protecting our flights and is probably the least effective of the three things you mentioned. People are getting all riled up about it here because they can't see past "guns = problem solved".
Move the forward bulkhead aft, install toilet, food, as appropriate in the cockppit, use the forward passenger door for sole cockpit access on ground.
Denying control access works. Anyone ever hijacked an escalator?
Yes, everyone in the passenger cabin is subject to looney tunes on board, but how many terrorists would bother buying a ticket if they knew there was NO way to get forward? Could a uniformed assigned pilot go nuts? Sure. Likely? Look at their track record.
It's as much a myth as an armed pilot being able to solve any situation.
BTW, I may be wrong here, but hasn't it been over 20 years since an Israeli plane was highjacked? Couldn't we use there model as an example of what works?
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