In light of all that’s taken place, would arming the pilots and crews of commercial airlines be a good idea? I understand that cabin pressures and bullets don’t mix. Maybe the crews could be armed with some sort of lethal weapon that could be used on would-be terrorists. Any thoughts?
With regards to the pilots, why not? A great deal are already ex-military. I wouldn’t be so hot on the idea of arming 20 Y.O. Suzy the stewardess or Johnny the steward, though.
However, I prefer the idea of Sky Marshalls.
I’m all for it.
Isn’t there some special ammo that the current Sky Marshalls use that doesn’t pierce the hull? I thought I read that around on the boards somewhere.
It has been reported that the Army is exploring the possiblity of putting Delta Force members onboard commercial flights. IMHO, this would better than arming the pilots.
Sure you can arm the pilots. Standard handguns with Glaser safety slugs. They are lethal, yet will not penetrate a normal interior wall of your average home.
How about a minor redesign of the airplane? A thick steel bulkhead, dogged from the inside of the cockpit. Or NO adjoining passages to the cockpit from the interior of the plane, and a seperate entrance for the pilots, all shielded.
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Arm the whole crew - but not with guns, with tazer stun guns.
Give every member of the flight crew the power to use them at their discretion, even if it’s just to subdue a drunk or irate passenger.
Passengers will think twice before getting out of line if they know the stewardess is packing heat and can knock them on their asses with a flip of a switch. The safety of everyone aboard is more important.
And/or - electronically seal the cockpit and have the electronic code “key” only available at the air traffic tower of the final destination. If a aircraft has to be re-routed due to bad weather etc, the “key” code could be forwarded to the next airport. The pilot won’t be able to leave the cockpit, but so what?
Install cockpit video cameras and override the yoke by remote control if any unauthorized person(s) takes over control of the plane.
Or is that just too easy?
Anyone see holes in my potential solutions?
This would be great…but there must be thousands of flights a day. Would they just put the soldiers on random flights?
I like the “stun gun” idea. The porblem with arming pilots and/or crew with plain old guns is that if any potential hijacker or terrorist manages to get their hands on the weapon, they are immediately armed with something way more powerful than anything they could have smuggled on board.
I say we lock the cockpits like they do on El Al flights and have at least one security guard on each flight with a stun gun to subdue any bad guys. As for the cost, eliminate those godawful meals and you could reduce the size of the crew by one, add a security officer, and arm (with tazers) and train the remainder of the crew.
My guess is they’d place emphasis on coast-to-coast flights.
An anti-terrorism expert was on CNN last night who suggested the same things: Lock the cockpit, disregard casualties in the cabin, arm the pilots.
I wouldn’t arm the cabin crew because it would be too easy to get their guns away from them.
I think Isreal arms their pilots. I think thats what the guy on Nightline was saying last night.
Couldn’t we airtight seal the cockpit and then the pilot in an emergency flood the passenger compartment with knock out gas.
I’m not sure I agree with the “disregard casualties in the cabin” part. Disregard is much to strong a word.
I wanna bounce this off my Brother-in-law, a United Pilot, before I decide, but on paper, arming pilots sounds great…
And the way I heard it was the FAA was requesting Delta Force members to suppliment Air Marshals…though, last I heard, the Delta Force didn’t official exist…but still…
This all my be moot anyway…there may not even be airlines in a year…They were suffering finacially before all of this…
What word would you use?
The pilots cannot exit the cockpit. To do so they would have to open the door. To open the door would allow an opportunity for a hijacker to enter. It would also allow an opportunity for a hijacker to obtain a gun.
Stun guns were the first thing I thought of, as well as locking the cabin door.
Knockout gas for the passengers. So they wake up with migraines? At least they’d wake up.
For those situations when hostages are taken: add a little something extra to the air mix to dope the terrorists slowly. Something to make them a little more tractable.
I don’t think arming civilian pilots with lethal weapons would be a good idea, but I love the idea of Delta force or sky marshals on random flights.
The pilots have to be able to get themselves out of the cockpit in the event of a non-terrorist type emergency, say having to down the plane in the ocean.
Quick answer: Blow-away emergency doors in the cockpit. Anyone know if that would be plausible?
I like the knock-out gas idea…in fact I might like the knock-out gas for every plane ride I take. It’d be kinda like Aliens…just wake me up when I get there. There’d be absolutely no chance of a hijacking then.
I also wouldn’t mind being allowed to carry my own weapon when I travel, I’m sure that’ll never happen though.
All the more incentive for the pilot to keep it in the air. 
Seriously- Could not an emergency exit be placed in the cockpit? (As well as food and toilet facilities for long flights?)
It’s not necessary to make the pilots prisoners in the cockpit. Just let them have a secure door that can be locked from the inside. That’s what they have now, but to prevent a determined hijacker stronger doors can be supplied (with a weight penalty).