PenHolder
Member
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/04/17/pilots.guns.ap/index.html
GLYNCO, Georgia (AP) -- 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 pass the course are sworn in as federal flight deck officers under a program approved by Congress.
"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.
Agency spokesman Robert Johnson gave some examples of how pilots could fail: not finishing the training or passing psychological tests that might indicate a pilot would have trouble killing another person.
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.
Some pilots had blisters on their trigger fingers from shooting 8,000 rounds from their semiautomatic pistols Wednesday night. Most had at least a cut, bruise or lump from one-on-one exercises in hitting and grappling with play-acting terrorists.
Many of the pilots chosen for the program are familiar with guns because they had 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.
The number of pilots certified to carry guns will depend on pilots' interest and the money available for training.
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.
Their airline may not know they are training to carry a gun because failing could affect their job. Once they are sworn in, they will have to tell their employers, but they will not be required to fly with a weapon every time they get in the cockpit.
Already, pilots are wanting to change a rule that they must store their weapons in a locked case when they leave the cockpit, even to use the restroom.
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<whine>Oh when will we learn, putting more guns in the sky is not an answer!</whine>
Seriously, though, despite all of the bitter foot-dragging from the various Administrativa (with a former BATF head running the TSA, no less), I'm happy to see this coming to term.
There are predictions of "blood on the streets" (or skies, in this case) every time we try to expand carry rights the teeniest bit; it really gets on one's nerves after a while. It's like listening to Baghdad Bob, but without the entertainment factor.
-PH
GLYNCO, Georgia (AP) -- 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 pass the course are sworn in as federal flight deck officers under a program approved by Congress.
"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.
Agency spokesman Robert Johnson gave some examples of how pilots could fail: not finishing the training or passing psychological tests that might indicate a pilot would have trouble killing another person.
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.
Some pilots had blisters on their trigger fingers from shooting 8,000 rounds from their semiautomatic pistols Wednesday night. Most had at least a cut, bruise or lump from one-on-one exercises in hitting and grappling with play-acting terrorists.
Many of the pilots chosen for the program are familiar with guns because they had 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.
The number of pilots certified to carry guns will depend on pilots' interest and the money available for training.
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.
Their airline may not know they are training to carry a gun because failing could affect their job. Once they are sworn in, they will have to tell their employers, but they will not be required to fly with a weapon every time they get in the cockpit.
Already, pilots are wanting to change a rule that they must store their weapons in a locked case when they leave the cockpit, even to use the restroom.
---------------
<whine>Oh when will we learn, putting more guns in the sky is not an answer!</whine>
Seriously, though, despite all of the bitter foot-dragging from the various Administrativa (with a former BATF head running the TSA, no less), I'm happy to see this coming to term.
There are predictions of "blood on the streets" (or skies, in this case) every time we try to expand carry rights the teeniest bit; it really gets on one's nerves after a while. It's like listening to Baghdad Bob, but without the entertainment factor.
-PH
it's John Magaw who "quit."