Government Says Pilots Can't Have Guns in Cockpits
Tue May 21, 2:57 PM ET
By DAVID STOUT The New York Times
(WASHINGTON)-After months of debate following the Sept. 11 terrorist hijackings, the Transportation Department has decided that airline pilots will not be allowed to have guns in the cockpits.
"Pilots need to concentrate on flying the plane," John Magaw, the undersecretary for transportation security, said at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing today.
Mr. Magaw disclosed his department's decision in response to a question from Senator John S. McCain of Arizona, the ranking Republican on the committee. Mr. Magaw said specially trained air marshals should be the only armed people on board.
Although no one knows exactly what happened aboard the four jetliners that were taken over by the terrorists on Sept. 11, investigators have surmised that hijackers armed with box-cutter knives overpowered the pilots, possibly after breaking into the cockpits.
After Sept. 11, the Air Line Pilots Association pushed for the right to carry firearms, but that idea never gained wide political support. Both Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and Tom Ridge, the director of homeland security, have been opposed to it.
Some pilots have also opposed the notion of handguns in the cockpit. So have many flight attendants, whose union has suggested that nonlethal weapons like stun guns would be more appropriate.
