cuchulainn
April 19, 2003, 05:51 PM
http://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/03/4/18/16829258.cfm
Pilots train in handgun use
Associated Press
GLYNCO, Ga. -- Only two of the 48 commercial airline pilots in the first class being trained to carry guns in the cockpit failed to make it through the early days of a rigorous course at a federal facility.
More of the pilots may wash out by Saturday, when those who passed the course are sworn in as federal flight deck officers under a program approved by Congress. They could be armed while flying as early as Sunday.
"These drills are tough, are hard, are good," said Capt. Steve Luckey, a retired pilot who is chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association's national security committee.
Luckey, who lobbied hard to let pilots have guns, came to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center to watch sweaty, bruised and bleeding pilots practice how to fend off an armed attacker. The center trains agents and officers for some 70 federal agencies.
Luckey and other pilots say they are delighted with the training developed by the Bush administration, which at first opposed arming pilots as potentially dangerous and disruptive -- reasons also cited by the airlines.
The Transportation Security Administration, which runs the course, would not say why the two pilots did not make the grade. Luckey described the course, which began Monday, as learning to fight and shoot in the confines of a cockpit, which he likened to a phone booth.
Ivan Kalister, who heads the agency's specialized training, said the pilots are excellent students. "If we give them the basic tools, they will be able to respond well if they're attacked," he said.
Many of the pilots chosen for the program are familiar with guns because they had already worked in law enforcement or the military. But some were picked because they were unfamiliar with guns.
The government decided on men and women of a variety of ages, backgrounds and sizes to put the training itself to a test. The next class is set for July.
Capt. Fred Bates, an American Airlines pilot who helped put the program in place, said as many as a third of U.S. pilots -- about 30,000 -- could be carrying weapons on the flight deck in five years.
Copyright ©2003 Associated Press
Pilots train in handgun use
Associated Press
GLYNCO, Ga. -- Only two of the 48 commercial airline pilots in the first class being trained to carry guns in the cockpit failed to make it through the early days of a rigorous course at a federal facility.
More of the pilots may wash out by Saturday, when those who passed the course are sworn in as federal flight deck officers under a program approved by Congress. They could be armed while flying as early as Sunday.
"These drills are tough, are hard, are good," said Capt. Steve Luckey, a retired pilot who is chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association's national security committee.
Luckey, who lobbied hard to let pilots have guns, came to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center to watch sweaty, bruised and bleeding pilots practice how to fend off an armed attacker. The center trains agents and officers for some 70 federal agencies.
Luckey and other pilots say they are delighted with the training developed by the Bush administration, which at first opposed arming pilots as potentially dangerous and disruptive -- reasons also cited by the airlines.
The Transportation Security Administration, which runs the course, would not say why the two pilots did not make the grade. Luckey described the course, which began Monday, as learning to fight and shoot in the confines of a cockpit, which he likened to a phone booth.
Ivan Kalister, who heads the agency's specialized training, said the pilots are excellent students. "If we give them the basic tools, they will be able to respond well if they're attacked," he said.
Many of the pilots chosen for the program are familiar with guns because they had already worked in law enforcement or the military. But some were picked because they were unfamiliar with guns.
The government decided on men and women of a variety of ages, backgrounds and sizes to put the training itself to a test. The next class is set for July.
Capt. Fred Bates, an American Airlines pilot who helped put the program in place, said as many as a third of U.S. pilots -- about 30,000 -- could be carrying weapons on the flight deck in five years.
Copyright ©2003 Associated Press