Laurie

I am against pilots having guns. Why? Not because I'm against guns- on the contrary, I own several... My objection stems from this idea.. allow me to play devil's advocate. You've got a wacko terrorist. We arm pilots. The terrorist now knows that there is in fact a gun on board- his goal now involves retrieving the gun from the pilot any means necessary. I much prefer the idea of air marshalls. Now the terrorist knows there is a gun on board... however, he has no idea who is packing. I've flown overseas many many times, but I've never been able to pick out the air marshall on board who I know is carrying the gun. Let's just make domestic flights like our international ones. Let's not give terrorists new objectives.

ilisa

As a federal law enforcement officer, my husband is required to qualify on his firearm once a month. Will pilots be required to do the same? Also, because he is in federal law enforcement, he is able to carry his gun in any state at any time. Since pilots are not federal officers, how will they handle state laws?

dan woodlief

Ilisa, as I have said on a few other posts, I know people who work at a federal prison. Even the medical staff has to have firearm training. Staff members are considered federal agents and can arrest. However, most staff members only need to get firearm refresher training once per year. I imagine it would be similar, although pilots might be be required to do it slightly more often. On a sidenote: You want to hear something really stupid? A guy drove up to the prison gate in a delivery truck a few days after Sept. 11 and jokingly (although this was not necessarily apparent to the guards) said he had a bomb. The guys at the gate pulled their guns on him and had him arrested.

juli

I just wanted to correct asdf's posting....When you said the rules say the pilot stays in the cockpit. If you are referring to the current laws and regulations you are mistaken. The pilot must handle all issues that happen on the plane inside or outside the cockpit. If there is a drunk on the plane they are notified and must be the one to take action.
If they are going to have to be the police force after terrorism......who's flying the plane?

L

Not to be insensitive, and I hope you believe that, but we tried it without armed pilots, remember, and look what happened. Terrorists entered the cockpits and harmed pilots and eventually managed to kill everyone on board and thousands more on the ground. All of the reactions to guns are rational, in a highly irrational scenario. Are you aware that axes are in the cockpits now ... for non-defensive uses. What't to keep a pilot from grabing it and go into the cabin? Look, one marshall, armed ... perhaps 3-6 hijackers. One door to the pilots. What in the world are you thinking of? I am getting on a plane to Africa next week ... I would sincerely prefer to know pilots were armed, and that at least the passengers had that last line of defense. Okay, so what if the hijackers managed to take the plane down ... at least the plane would not be used as a guided bomb. Arm the pilots now ... I'm willing to trust a pilot with a gun if a hijacking gets started on board my planes. Ciao

asdf

Yes, I understand that under current regulations, pilots can go into the cabin.

I am talking about what recommended policy should be in the future.

L

Pilots will be trained to remain in the cockpit, with the door bolted. It will be a regulation and a law. They cannot be held responsible for what occurs in the cabin. Their job will be to remain in control of the plane and land it on an emergency basis at the nearest airport. Pilots will do what they're supposed to do. They are not stupid. They can figure the odds of going back into an unknown situation in the cabin, and can do so rather easily I suspect. They figure risk and odds all the time, and follow rules. Where's the evidence that pilots left the cockpit willingly on the 11th? They were taken through a weak door system, rather easily probably .... they had no defenses at all. Why in the world would you wish to keep them defenseless? Surely a reasonable and safe process can be developed for arming pilots and keeping them in the cockpit with the door locked. Ciao