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http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-03-31-armed-pilots_N.htm
More than 10% of pilots allowed to fly armed
=====================
REQUIREMENTS FOR PILOTS
For pilots to be armed, they must:
Pass a psychological test and training course.
Requalify after five years.
Work for a commercial passenger airline or large cargo airline.
Take possession of a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun.
Carry guns only on domestic flights.
Source: Transportation Security Administration
=====================
WASHINGTON - More than one in 10 of the nation's airline pilots are cleared
to carry a handgun while flying, and the number will continue to grow,
according to a Transportation Security Administration projection.
The TSA, which has declined to disclose the number of armed pilots, revealed
in a recent budget document that 10.8% of airline crewmembers were
authorized to carry guns.
The Federal Air Marshal Service, a TSA agency that runs the armed-pilots
program, reports that 85,000 to 90,000 pilots and crewmembers flying
domestic passenger and cargo planes are eligible to carry a gun. That puts
the number of armed pilots at about 9,500 - a figure Air Marshal spokesman
Nelson Minerly did not dispute. The marshal service keeps the exact number
confidential.
The TSA projects the program to grow to 16.5% of eligible pilots by the year
2011.
Aviation experts were surprised and alarmed that so many pilots are toting
guns in the sky.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Congress | Houston | Denver | New Mexico | US Airways
| Transportation Security Administration | Air Line Pilots Association |
Transportation Department | Federal Air Marshal Service |
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department | Greg Alter
"That's a big number compared to what I thought it would be," said
aviation-security consultant Rich Roth, who said he had predicted there
would be fewer than 1,000 armed pilots. The 5-year-old program trains pilots
for one week and arms them with .40-caliber semiautomatic pistols.
"That's a scary number," said Joseph Gutheinz, a former Transportation
Department special agent and aviation attorney in Houston. "By allowing so
many pilots the opportunity to fly armed, we're giving terrorists
opportunity to identify somebody who has a gun and overpower him."
Capt. Bob Hesselbein, head of security for the Air Line Pilots Association,
said the number of armed pilots is "a tremendous deterrent" to hijackings.
"An organized terrorist team, their challenge is to take control of the
cabin, then the flight deck."
Armed pilots have come under scrutiny since March 22 when the gun of a US
Airways pilot fired in the ****pit of Flight 1536 as it approached Charlotte
from Denver. No one was hurt, and the plane landed safely after the bullet
pierced the fuselage.
A report by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said the gun fired
while the pilot was stowing it.
The marshal service is investigating. The firing was the first such
incident, which indicates that "this isn't a problem with the program," Air
Marshal spokesman Greg Alter said.
Hesselbein, whose union lobbied Congress for the program, said armed pilots
are on about 15% of domestic flights.
Marcus Flagg, president of the Federal Flight Deck Officers Association,
which represents armed pilots, said their numbers could grow more if
training facilities expanded.
Pilots train at a federal center in New Mexico. Classes hold 48 people and
have been filled or nearly filled for five years, Minerly said.
More than 10% of pilots allowed to fly armed
=====================
REQUIREMENTS FOR PILOTS
For pilots to be armed, they must:
Pass a psychological test and training course.
Requalify after five years.
Work for a commercial passenger airline or large cargo airline.
Take possession of a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun.
Carry guns only on domestic flights.
Source: Transportation Security Administration
=====================
WASHINGTON - More than one in 10 of the nation's airline pilots are cleared
to carry a handgun while flying, and the number will continue to grow,
according to a Transportation Security Administration projection.
The TSA, which has declined to disclose the number of armed pilots, revealed
in a recent budget document that 10.8% of airline crewmembers were
authorized to carry guns.
The Federal Air Marshal Service, a TSA agency that runs the armed-pilots
program, reports that 85,000 to 90,000 pilots and crewmembers flying
domestic passenger and cargo planes are eligible to carry a gun. That puts
the number of armed pilots at about 9,500 - a figure Air Marshal spokesman
Nelson Minerly did not dispute. The marshal service keeps the exact number
confidential.
The TSA projects the program to grow to 16.5% of eligible pilots by the year
2011.
Aviation experts were surprised and alarmed that so many pilots are toting
guns in the sky.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Congress | Houston | Denver | New Mexico | US Airways
| Transportation Security Administration | Air Line Pilots Association |
Transportation Department | Federal Air Marshal Service |
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department | Greg Alter
"That's a big number compared to what I thought it would be," said
aviation-security consultant Rich Roth, who said he had predicted there
would be fewer than 1,000 armed pilots. The 5-year-old program trains pilots
for one week and arms them with .40-caliber semiautomatic pistols.
"That's a scary number," said Joseph Gutheinz, a former Transportation
Department special agent and aviation attorney in Houston. "By allowing so
many pilots the opportunity to fly armed, we're giving terrorists
opportunity to identify somebody who has a gun and overpower him."
Capt. Bob Hesselbein, head of security for the Air Line Pilots Association,
said the number of armed pilots is "a tremendous deterrent" to hijackings.
"An organized terrorist team, their challenge is to take control of the
cabin, then the flight deck."
Armed pilots have come under scrutiny since March 22 when the gun of a US
Airways pilot fired in the ****pit of Flight 1536 as it approached Charlotte
from Denver. No one was hurt, and the plane landed safely after the bullet
pierced the fuselage.
A report by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said the gun fired
while the pilot was stowing it.
The marshal service is investigating. The firing was the first such
incident, which indicates that "this isn't a problem with the program," Air
Marshal spokesman Greg Alter said.
Hesselbein, whose union lobbied Congress for the program, said armed pilots
are on about 15% of domestic flights.
Marcus Flagg, president of the Federal Flight Deck Officers Association,
which represents armed pilots, said their numbers could grow more if
training facilities expanded.
Pilots train at a federal center in New Mexico. Classes hold 48 people and
have been filled or nearly filled for five years, Minerly said.
