Should Pilots in Commercial Flights Be Able to Carry Firearms in Cockpit

Arming Pilots

After almost four years, the United States is still feeling the effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The War in Iraq continues. Despite massive security measures that have been put in place since September 11, Americans continue to be vulnerable to terrorist attack.

This paper argues that allowing trained pilots to carry firearms will help protect air travelers from similar hijackings. More important, armed pilots would constitute an important layer in the fight to keep the United States secure from terrorists and other enemies.

First of all, the move to allow pilots to carry firearms has widespread support. In 2002, for example, the Lower House voted 310-113 in favor of a bill allowing commercial pilots to signed up for a firearms training program (Sowell, 45). Polls conducted among members of the general public have shown strong support for this measure. Furthermore, many pilots have voiced a strong interest in such a program, citing their concerns regarding the lax security in airline travel.

Second, experts point out that measures instituted to ensure air travel safety are far from enough. The air marshal program, for example, mandates that armed law enforcement individuals will board flights dressed as passengers. However, there are not enough trained individuals to put an air marshal in every flight. In fact, pilots have argued that only one-third of all flights out of Reagan National Airport are boarded by air marshals (Lott ). The figure is even less for flights from other airports, especially with flights from Europe.

Training pilots in the use of firearms would be a good solution to the lack of air marshals. After all, every commercial flight would have at least two pilots already present. There is already a network of 550,000 pilots, flying planes out of over 5,000 airports (Szyliowicz 56). It would therefore be more cost-effective to train pilots who are already part of this existing network, instead of recruiting and training new people to become marshals.

Third, giving trained pilots the right to carry firearms adds another layer of security to air travel and, by extension, homeland security. Current security measures mandated in planes, after all, has been woefully inadequate. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), for example, has been conducting tests of airport screenings since the Fall of 2002. However, no test results are being made public amid speculations of poor performance. To make matters worse, the TSA has yet to acknowledge that aside from guns, a number of "undetectable lethal weapons" ceramics and plastic knives can also be used to hijack a plane (Lott).

In addition to the lack of hypothetical marshals and the faulty screenings, the September 11 attacks illustrate the lack of safety inside the airplane itself. In 2003, reinforced cockpit doors were supposed to be put in place in airlines. However, many experts challenge their effectiveness (Lott). Previous tests have shown that cockpit doors break off their hinges easily when rammed with beverage carts. Locking these doors would therefore do little to protect the air controls from terrorists who are determined to hijack and pilot a plane.

Opponents of arming pilots have cited concerns over cowboys or renegade pilots. These arguments state that because many commercial pilots began their career as fighter pilots, some of them may be prone to rash actions. During a hijacking situation, the primary goal of a pilot should be to get the plane on the ground, not to play Rambo in the cabin.

This, however, is a specious argument. It focuses on the possibility of exceptions, rather than looking at the general rule. If pilots are armed, they will not immediately run into the cabin for a shoot-out. Instead, the firearms give them another option to consider if the situation escalates. Using their weapon would only be one of the last options -- if hijackers get past through security, if there are no air marshals on board, if the hijackers are not subdued in the cabin and if the attackers manage to break down the bullet-proof cockpit door.

Giving trained pilots the opportunity to carry weapons is only one in a number of protections intended for providing passengers and citizens with greater security. Had the pilots of the doomed September 11 flights been armed, they may have been able to subdue their attackers. As author and firearms researcher Wayne LaPierre observes, "The lack of firearms in the hands of the pilots allowed the hijackers to seize control of those ill-fated planes in the first place" (2).