Armed pilots

Wingnut · Mar 13, 2002

>> I've never bought the idea that this was the fault of any of the flight crew on EgyptAir.. but what do I know? <<

well, you may likely know a lot more than I do about it, Bob ... but that website certainly didn't change my belief that the copilot decided to earn his 70 virgins and take a lot of innocent people with him ... and my belief is only strengthened by 9/11 .... and it'll take a lot more than a decidedly anti-American article like that one to make me rethink it.

The news today is all about the student visas for Atta and one of the others finally getting to the flight school. You think maybe they were the only ones? Maybe one didn't take all the training instead of just learning how to aim?

I put my fate in the hands of the flight crews everytime i fly ... too darned often for my liking ... but the only trust I have in them is that they want to get home in one piece too. If they don't .... well, color me toast. As Yoda would say, "Gods not they are, men be they"

Bob_Trevithick · Mar 14, 2002

...and it'll take a lot more than a decidedly anti-American article like that one to make me rethink it.

Well, you're probably right.. like I said, what do I know?

But I would take issue with one thing.. the anti-American comment. To me, being an American means one thing.. upholding the Constitution.. because that piece of paper is the United States of America. So I don't judge something as un-American if it is merely criticizing a government agency, or even the entire government. To me, un-American means anything that subverts the Constitution.

We may have to agree to disagree on this one. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bob_Trevithick · Mar 14, 2002

...You were just discribed in Bob_Trevithick's first post. His knowledge of aircraft pressurization seems right on to me.

I just want to clarify something.. I didn't write that article.. I merely reposted it from a mail list I'm on. Sorry if I wasn't clear about that. My credentials in flying consist of one flight in a Piper Cub when I was two years old. I'm told I took the stick in the back and did some "maneuvers" that made my mother none too happy, and then promptly fell asleep for the rest of the flight. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

And I've had a few flights in commercial jets, which were fortunately uneventful.

I just thought the article was interesting, and kind of funny in a warped sort of way.

Just to clarify....

Bob

Wingnut · Mar 14, 2002

Bob ... the anti-American comment I made was in reference to the entire tone of the article. Just as you can easily see the liberal bias of much of the media .... sprinkling "right wing", "ectreme right" etc everywhere ... but pretending that everything on the left is normal or in the middle .... I saw all kinds of keywords showing me what I perceived as a very prominent pro-anything-except-American bias.
And, in case you haven't noticed my previous posts about the wonderful INS ... I'm still a Canadian ... so maybe I'm more sensitive to the anti-American biases .... I've grown up seeing them in the Canadian media.
I agree ... criticism isn't un-American ... by definition (the first amendment to the Constitution) criticism is very American.

What I was trying to convey was that the obvious (to me) bias automatically flagged everything the author said as suspect.Kind of a red flag, like Clinton saying "trust me ..."

Wingnut · Mar 14, 2002

Actually, I've seen the perfect answer to air travel concerns in proint somewhere in the past few months ... although it was tongue-in-cheek.
Everybody flies in their birthday suits.
Noeher to hide the weapons ... everyone i sarmed similarly ... and, heck, it gives you something to talk about on those long flights from here to Europe or Australia.

Egon · Mar 14, 2002

Bob:

Stirring the pot again ???

Egon

Bob_Trevithick · Mar 14, 2002

...Stirring the pot again ???

Darn it, Egon.. you don't let me get away with anything around here! /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif But you've given me a good idea.. a 3pt hitch pot-stirring implement.. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Egon · Mar 14, 2002

Bob:

Perhaps a big castiron pot with a hydraulic tilt on it that can be backed over a hot fire and you could make soap like my Grandma used to.

Egon

RoyJackson · Mar 14, 2002

Everybody flies in their birthday suits.
Noeher to hide the weapons ... everyone i sarmed similarly ... and, heck, it gives you something to talk about on those long flights from here to Europe or Australia.

Boy! I'd fly more often!! But I think we'd soon find out that most folks should wear clothes!!!

As far as firearms and pilots...not only that, I would extend that to any CCW permit holder that goes through specialized training.

There is frangible ammunition that would minmize any fuselage penetration (I use frangible ammo in my .38) but would still stop personnel

There aren't enough Air Marshalls to cover all flights in the U.S., not enough CCW permits either, but it sure would increase the numbers of (legally) armed personnel on flights. This would be for flights within the US, of course.

However, the liberals (so what do ya think of your Senators Clinton and Schumer, Bob?) would have collective apoplexies if this came about...maybe that wouldn't be so bad!

cp1969 · Mar 14, 2002

I, too, understand how they're pressurized. I know that there are a few places where a bullet hole would not be serious but I also know there are more than a few places where it would. There's a sh-tpot full of wires, hydraulic and fuel lines, and control cables running through the aircraft, any one of which has the potential, if damaged, to down the aircraft, all of which all the armed pilot advocates seem to assume will be missed if someone sprays a few rounds of .45 hardball down the aisle.

Arming pilots (of which I was one) is IMHO a questionable solution to what is now a non-existent problem. It (the 9/11 hijackings) worked spectacularly once; the next time it will be something else. This horse is long gone, it doesn't matter if the barn door attendant is armed or not.