Originally posted by Thrawn
The pilot's job is to fly the plane, not to play Mr. Rainbow 6.
If you have some one on a plane with a gun, it should be a highly trained peace officer, not a pilot with a week-end course in how to take off safety on a pistol.
Look before you leap, Thrawn.
First off, it wont be a "week-end course in how to take off safety on a pistol." It'll be much more detailed than that. From what I've heard so far, it'll be at the pilot's own time and expense as well. Volunteer, if you will. No one's being forced to participate.
Two, it is his job to fly the plane. Stop and think about it.
A. Even now, a year + later, there are very, very few "sky marshals". It's RARE when there is one on board. You're talking about a very limited number of guys that get vacations and days off just like the rest of us that have to cover literally tens of thousands of commercial flights every single day. So, if you depend solely on sky marshals, it'll be a rare day indeed when they are on your flight. OTOH, there will be at least two pilots on every single flight.
B. So, while these pilots are there, flying the plane, the odds are overwhelming that nobody in back will be a sky marshal trained to work in an aircraft environment or even any sort of armed Law Enforcement Officer at all.
And when the bad guys show up and start trying to force entry into the cockpit..... who's going to make sure the pilot still has a chance to do his job, to fly the plane?
I'll suggest the OTHER pilot. The adequately trained one that knows more about the aircraft and the environment it operates in than any sky marshal and has undergone a specific course to help him maintain control of his cockpit using a firearm
if necessary.
But of course, it'll never happen again right?
