Arming our Pilots, CNN Front Page!!!

thesupermonkey

http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/24/gen.pilots.union/index.html

v35

Ship captains always had that authority, why shouldnt airline pilots? Probably most are ex military fliers and have had firearms training.

kimberkid

What took so long to think that one up??? I belive someone sugested that on this board almost two weeks ago ... quit wasting time and do it!

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GUN CONTROL: If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention!kimberkid@gunbroker.zzn.com

Lowrider

McCain: "We'll have to discuss this with the Justice Dept. Call in the experts..."That'd be experts like former Atty. General Reno?Where did he get the idea there were any experts in the Justice Dept.?

Iconoclast

Just how many of the hijackers / detainees was that who had pilot training / licenses / uniforms? And how many 'sleepers' remain in the US waiting to be acivated? Might well be that this could arm the fox in the chicken coop. Background checks on any airline employee with access to planes, secured doors to the flight deck & the vermin will look for easier targets. And what was the historical model of a hijacking ended 9-11. No pilot is going to give up control of the aircraft now, regardless of threats or acts in the passenger area.

mudge

For some reason I can't access that link that supermonkey posted so this may be redundant or repititous or both.The President of the pilots union (ALPA) is appearing before a House committee now asking that they give permission for pilots to arm themselves.A bullet hole in the fuselage (if, in fact it penetrates, which is questionable) WILL NOT cause rapid decompression. As I said in an earlier post, arming the driver is NOT so he/she can come OUT of the cockpit blazing away. It's so he/she can blaze away at that cockpit doorway in case the "goblin" gets it open before the plane can land.They don't need the power of arrest. Where are these people going to "flee" to? Besides, they shouldn't have to be arrested...before that becomes necessary, they should be DEAD! Mudge

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Anyone who CAN carry, SHOULD carry!Let me update that.Anyone who CAN carry, BETTER carry.[This message has been edited by mudge (edited 09-25-2001).]

landis

Aircraft systems usually are double and sometimes tripple redundant. I don't like the idea of a stray going through a control pannel, but here again, that isn't the real reason for this consideration. The real reason for guns in pilots hands it to prevent the aircraft from becomming a 145 ton cruisemissile. Heck, we came close to shooting down the one that crashed in Penn, passengers and all. Playing nice with hijackers as if it were a hostage negotiation no longer works since we are now dealing with a very well advertised method of mass destruction given the events of last week.

landis

I don't like the responsibility of arrest authority though, defense of the cockpit only.That has to be enhanced. Law enforcement is too large of a job to include, you will have to pay a lot more for pilots if you do that.