COLUMN: Pilots should be ordered to pack heat
Thousands of ideas have surfaced since Sept. 11 on how to assure the friendly skies do indeed stay friendly. Americans, for the first time in my lifetime (and perhaps since the dawn of flight) are scared to death of flying. They want to be assured the horrific events which happened last month will never happen again.
Flyers want to be promised the unpromisable. They want to feel safe from the once unthinkable, which may never be possible. Nearly everything we do has an element of risk, and hiding inside our homes, excluding ourselves from the rest of the risk-taking world is not American.
The airline industry is no different. Flying will always be risky, and while attacks like we witnessed last month may never be fully preventable, the Bush administration, the FAA and others are brainstorming ways to make such tragedies as preventable as possible.
U.S. Marshals have been ordered to accompany every flight. There’s been talk of reinforcing the doors separating the cockpit from the rest of the plane and developing a system which would allow the aircraft to land by remote control in the event of a takeover.
Remote controls and reinforced doors are good ideas, and will happen sooner rather than later. In the meantime, there’s another method of securing the skies many people are considering.
The FAA must make it standard procedure for the pilots to pack heat. It should no longer be an option, but a requirement – as important to the safety of the passengers as the preflight checklist.
I’ve thought about this idea a lot during the last three weeks, and giving pilots firearms would do more for security than any other method being discussed. It would end the threat of hijackings nearly altogether.
Naturally, some people are concerned introducing firearms to an already “secure” environment would only give hijackers the means by which they could carry out their agenda. In essence, if they get the gun, they’ve got the plane. So why make the scenario possible by putting the guns on board in the first place?
Well, the chances of the hijacker(s) gaining possession of the gun are not that great. There’s too much that would have to go wrong. And in the event of an attack, guns beat knives just like rocks defeat scissors.
Each flight usually has between two and four pilots/co-pilots on board, all of which should be packing heat. The only way hijackers can take over a cockpit protected by three guns is if they bring guns of their own, in which case they’re going to get control of the plane whether the pilots are packing heat or not.
I know the idea of arming pilots seems a little radical to some people, but so is the idea of flying jumbo jets into skyscrapers. Which would you rather see: A pilot with a gun holstered on his belt, thanking passengers for flying the friendly skies? Or a repeat of Sept. 11?
These are not the images we’re used to in America. We’re not used to seeing soldiers standing post in airports, weapon in hand. We’re not accustomed to seeing pilots carry handguns, but quite frankly, handguns are something long overdue.
We don’t expect security guards who drive armored cars to do their jobs without a means of protecting themselves. They carry handguns. Are the lives of the passengers onboard every flight not worth more than the money inside an armored truck? Why shouldn’t pilots be issued firearms so they can protect their cargo?
I hate to refer to airplane passengers as cargo, but ultimately they are, and they should be protected better than cargo inside an armored vehicle or anything else. If the airlines are going to be held responsible for our safety, then they’ve got to have a fighting chance. Allowing pilots to pack heat is the biggest step the FAA could take in this direction.
Until some of these heavier security measures are in effect, it is important we don’t lose faith in the airline industry. After all, despite the recent tragedies this great nation has endured, it is probably safer to fly right now than it ever has been.
So go ahead and make your travel arrangements for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Spring Break. But don’t be surprised if the scenery in the airports and on the planes is a little different than what you’re used to. It only means you’re going to be that much safer.
And don’t be alarmed if your pilot has a handgun holstered to his belt either. Sadly, America’s age of innocence is over.