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Pilots ready to fight ban on cockpit guns
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Pilots ready to fight ban on cockpit guns
Congress considers legislation overruling Bush
Zachary Coile, Marshall Wilson, Chronicle Staff Writers Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Washington -- Pilots unions and the powerful gun lobby are gearing up to fight a decision by the Bush administration not to allow airline pilots to carry guns in the cockpit.
The administration, in its ruling Tuesday, argued that arming pilots won't prevent terrorist hijackings and could endanger passengers. But the battle for guns in the cockpit now moves to Congress, which is considering legislation to allow trained pilots to carry weapons on board.
"The government already has told us that if terrorists take control of one of our cockpits, they will send military aircraft to shoot down the airliner and all its crew and passengers," said Capt. Duane Woerth, president of the Air Line Pilots Association. "In the face of such choices, we do not understand why these same government officials refuse to give pilots a last chance to prevent such a tragedy."
John Magaw, the head of the Transportation Security Administration, said his agency decided after months of debate that only federal air marshals who undergo rigorous firearms training should be allowed to carry guns on the plane.
In testimony Tuesday before a Senate panel, Magaw said pilots facing a hijacking attempt should hunker down behind reinforced cockpit doors and try to land the plane.
"My feeling is that you secure the cockpit as much as you possibly can, make it a secure area for them," Magaw told the Senate Commerce Committee. "If something does happen on that plane, they really need to be in control of that aircraft."
FEW AIR MARSHALS ON BOARD
Airline pilots unions contend that air marshals are on board only a tiny percentage of the nation's roughly 25,000 daily commercial flights. They said pilots should be allowed to carry guns as a last line of defense in case hijackers breach the cockpit doors.
Pilots began pushing the idea of guns in the cockpit after Sept. 11, when terrorists overpowered pilots on four jetliners before crashing the planes. More than 20,000 pilots signed a petition, sent to Congress this month, demanding that pilots be allowed to defend themselves and passengers with guns.
The airline security bill passed by Congress last fall asked the Transportation Security Administration to decide whether pilots should be armed. Magaw said Tuesday that he is still considering whether to allow pilots and flight attendants to use nonlethal weapons, such as stun guns.
But several lawmakers are pushing to overcome the administration's opposition to guns in the cockpit. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, and Sen. Robert Smith, R-N.H., have proposed certifying trained pilots to carry firearms.
The National Rifle Association is promising to lobby hard to pass the legislation and pressure President Bush to reverse Magaw's decision.
"It defies common sense," NRA Vice President Wayne La Pierre said of the administration's position. "Properly trained armed airline pilots will give hijackers pause. I think they'll give passengers a sense of security, and they'll give everyone aboard a better chance of living" through an attack.
WORRIES ABOUT FIREARMS
The idea of guns in the cockpit unnerves some passengers. Bridget O'Reilly, a 29-year-old Livermore writer who was flying to London from San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday, said she fears that not only terrorists but even a deranged passenger could somehow wrest a firearm away from a pilot.
"I wouldn't want bullets flying around in a pressurized cabin high up in the air," she said.
The pilots have also faced opposition from flight attendants, who say that arming pilots provides a false sense of security. The Association of Flight Attendants, instead, has asked for flight attendants to be given nonlethal weapons to subdue unruly passengers.
Brent Morgan, an American Airlines pilot from Napa who also runs a security company, said stun guns would be ineffective against multiple attackers or someone wearing heavy clothing.
Morgan said many pilots served in the armed services and have handled firearms. And he doubts that reinforced cockpit doors would be enough to stop hijackers because "where there's a will, there's a way to break into something. "
Several Senate Democrats praised Magaw for responding to concerns that guns brought aboard could be misused, endangering passengers and crew.
"First the pilots wanted guns. No, we'll give 'em stun guns," said Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., chairman of the Commerce Committee. "Then the flight attendants wanted metal bars, 18 inches long, crowbars. And now I guess that we're going to give the passengers machetes and all and let 'em all just fight it out in the cabin.
"If I was a terrorist, I'd say, 'Whoopee, we don't have to worry about all this security. . . . They've got all the weapons on board for me. All I got to do is grab a bunch of them and take the plane over.' "
VIDEO CAMERAS PROPOSED
Magaw said he wants to install video cameras in planes to allow pilots to see the cabin. He said the pilots could then steer the plane to try to knock hijackers off their feet.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., applauded the idea and said cameras should be required on all planes. "These pilots, they're concentrating on their work as they should be (and) they have no idea of what's going on back there," Boxer said.
At the hearing, Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta also said the administration is screening 30 to 35 percent of checked bags with bomb- detection machines, up from 10 percent last fall.
Zachary Coile reported from Washington. Marshall Wilson reported from San Francisco. / E-mail the writers at zcoile@sfchronicle.com. and marshallwilson@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/05/22/MN195835.DTL
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Congress considers legislation overruling Bush
Zachary Coile, Marshall Wilson, Chronicle Staff Writers Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Washington -- Pilots unions and the powerful gun lobby are gearing up to fight a decision by the Bush administration not to allow airline pilots to carry guns in the cockpit.
The administration, in its ruling Tuesday, argued that arming pilots won't prevent terrorist hijackings and could endanger passengers. But the battle for guns in the cockpit now moves to Congress, which is considering legislation to allow trained pilots to carry weapons on board.
"The government already has told us that if terrorists take control of one of our cockpits, they will send military aircraft to shoot down the airliner and all its crew and passengers," said Capt. Duane Woerth, president of the Air Line Pilots Association. "In the face of such choices, we do not understand why these same government officials refuse to give pilots a last chance to prevent such a tragedy."
John Magaw, the head of the Transportation Security Administration, said his agency decided after months of debate that only federal air marshals who undergo rigorous firearms training should be allowed to carry guns on the plane.
In testimony Tuesday before a Senate panel, Magaw said pilots facing a hijacking attempt should hunker down behind reinforced cockpit doors and try to land the plane.
"My feeling is that you secure the cockpit as much as you possibly can, make it a secure area for them," Magaw told the Senate Commerce Committee. "If something does happen on that plane, they really need to be in control of that aircraft."
FEW AIR MARSHALS ON BOARD
Airline pilots unions contend that air marshals are on board only a tiny percentage of the nation's roughly 25,000 daily commercial flights. They said pilots should be allowed to carry guns as a last line of defense in case hijackers breach the cockpit doors.
Pilots began pushing the idea of guns in the cockpit after Sept. 11, when terrorists overpowered pilots on four jetliners before crashing the planes. More than 20,000 pilots signed a petition, sent to Congress this month, demanding that pilots be allowed to defend themselves and passengers with guns.
The airline security bill passed by Congress last fall asked the Transportation Security Administration to decide whether pilots should be armed. Magaw said Tuesday that he is still considering whether to allow pilots and flight attendants to use nonlethal weapons, such as stun guns.
But several lawmakers are pushing to overcome the administration's opposition to guns in the cockpit. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, and Sen. Robert Smith, R-N.H., have proposed certifying trained pilots to carry firearms.
The National Rifle Association is promising to lobby hard to pass the legislation and pressure President Bush to reverse Magaw's decision.
"It defies common sense," NRA Vice President Wayne La Pierre said of the administration's position. "Properly trained armed airline pilots will give hijackers pause. I think they'll give passengers a sense of security, and they'll give everyone aboard a better chance of living" through an attack.
WORRIES ABOUT FIREARMS
The idea of guns in the cockpit unnerves some passengers. Bridget O'Reilly, a 29-year-old Livermore writer who was flying to London from San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday, said she fears that not only terrorists but even a deranged passenger could somehow wrest a firearm away from a pilot.
"I wouldn't want bullets flying around in a pressurized cabin high up in the air," she said.
The pilots have also faced opposition from flight attendants, who say that arming pilots provides a false sense of security. The Association of Flight Attendants, instead, has asked for flight attendants to be given nonlethal weapons to subdue unruly passengers.
Brent Morgan, an American Airlines pilot from Napa who also runs a security company, said stun guns would be ineffective against multiple attackers or someone wearing heavy clothing.
Morgan said many pilots served in the armed services and have handled firearms. And he doubts that reinforced cockpit doors would be enough to stop hijackers because "where there's a will, there's a way to break into something. "
Several Senate Democrats praised Magaw for responding to concerns that guns brought aboard could be misused, endangering passengers and crew.
"First the pilots wanted guns. No, we'll give 'em stun guns," said Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., chairman of the Commerce Committee. "Then the flight attendants wanted metal bars, 18 inches long, crowbars. And now I guess that we're going to give the passengers machetes and all and let 'em all just fight it out in the cabin.
"If I was a terrorist, I'd say, 'Whoopee, we don't have to worry about all this security. . . . They've got all the weapons on board for me. All I got to do is grab a bunch of them and take the plane over.' "
VIDEO CAMERAS PROPOSED
Magaw said he wants to install video cameras in planes to allow pilots to see the cabin. He said the pilots could then steer the plane to try to knock hijackers off their feet.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., applauded the idea and said cameras should be required on all planes. "These pilots, they're concentrating on their work as they should be (and) they have no idea of what's going on back there," Boxer said.
At the hearing, Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta also said the administration is screening 30 to 35 percent of checked bags with bomb- detection machines, up from 10 percent last fall.
Zachary Coile reported from Washington. Marshall Wilson reported from San Francisco. / E-mail the writers at zcoile@sfchronicle.com. and marshallwilson@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/05/22/MN195835.DTL
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
Did I read that right?
Trust your govrnment. Pilots dont need guns. They can just watch TV, use the plane and steer themselves into safety.
Happiness is a warm gun
Barring the cockpit door only works as long as the door stays locked. Anytime someone opens the door for any reason that barrier is gone.
Please, will someone with a wiser and cooler head explain to me, why in the world should anybody worry about an (feared) accidental or intentional stray bullet from a pilots gun, when the alternative to a high-jacked passenger airliner is a military attack and shooting down of said airliner?
COME ON NOW! THERE MAY BE SOME SMALL DANGER OF A STRAY BULLET FROM THE PILOT TAKING DOWN AN AIRLINER, BUT JUDING BY THE RECORD OF OUR MILITARY PILOTS, I'D SAY THAT THEY WOULD BE A LOT MORE CERTAIN OF TAKING DOWN AN UNARMED AIRCRAFT!
WHO'S THE IDIOT THAT CAME UP WITH THIS SCENARIO ANYWAY?
I would have thought GW had more brains than this, was I wrong?
Nil Illegitimus Carborundum
Happiness is a warm gun