Should airline pilots be allowed to carry guns in the cockpit?

no

I think all passengers should be issued guns at the beginning of each flight much like they issue headsets now. Any @sshole getting outta line would receive a slug from Grannie and her Colt 45.

I ain't talkin' that malt liquor, either.

I don't think so. Why don't you just give the terrorists the guns?

I see no reason for the pilots to be under special rules regarding guns.

Yes. Big ones. Uzis.

Yes, and the cockpit should be sealed. No matter what happens in the plane, the pilots should remain behind the locked door.

Unless they were trained in their use, this could cause more problems than it solves. A bullet can easily pierce the hull of a pressurised aircraft, and that would be more dangerous that your average hijacker. If it's necessary to have guns on board aircraft, they should be carried by skilled sky-marshals (as is already the case on some airlines) - if there is a hijack attempt, the pilots need to be left alone to concentrate on flying the plane, not fighting off the hijackers.

What would happen if a bullet should pierce the hull?

I don't think taht's such a good idea. I don't like the thought of people being armed when it isn't really necessary. If the September 11th hijacked pilots had guns it wouldn't have made the slightest difference - they would have handed them over when the air-stewardesses started to be murdered. Besides, I'm not sure it's wise to fire a gun inside an aeroplane. Also, you are providing the hijackers with weapons that they would otherwise be unable to smuggle on board.

I hate weapons. But I think that if the poor pilots had a gun in the cockpit on September 11th, it would've saved the day. I wish there was an alternate solution to violence vs. violence.

I don't really think the pilots would have handed them over.

No

I'm not sure. I don't think it's a great idea. I like the idea of air marshals with guns on planes better.

I'm not sure. They would have to be stun guns or guns that could be used in a plane. I would support some type of door seal more than just handing out guns to pilots.

I don't think anyone should carry a gun inside a plane.

what if the pilot has a heart attack and is behind the locked door? should the other pilot abandon flying the plane?

I find it kind of funny that shortly after the Pilot's Association asked for permission to carry guns in the cockpit, a pilot had his Toenail Clippers confiscated, then was sent into the cockpit where he has access to the CRASH AX!

No way.

No.

YES!

i am not sure what i think about that yet. i lean towards no mostly.

the pilot has a gun but can't leave the locked cockpit that is bullet proof............... that doesn't sound handy to me.

I don't care. I think it would make more sense to just seal them into a separate compartment that isn't accessible to the passengers.

Archie Bunker said that on an episode of "All in the Family".

Yes! Considering everything.... and keep the access to the cockpit locked until landing, just like bank vaults! I don't see where pilots need to get out of the cockpit (if they have their own toilets), I may be wrong about their need to get out. You may lock them in but if they are able open the doors from their side, what keeps a terrorist from taking a hostage to kill unless they open the door? It must be locked like a bank vault and open only upon landing. If this is standard equipment, what would be the point of highjacking a plane if NO one can open the door to the cockpit?

In the cockpit, there should be a pilot, a co-pilot and an assistant co-pilot (I think they call them flight attendants but they should train them {as I think they are} to assist the co-pilot- just in case!)
I knew the "flight attendant" that was part of the crew that had an emergency landing in an unused Winnipeg air field (where people were pick-nicking), some years ago when Canada was in the transition from the Imperial system to the Metric System and the ground crew miscalculated the fuel in the plane. Ouch! The story made "Reader's Digest"'s "Drama in real Life" section. He went on to do something else for a living...

There are potential situations that would require the pilot or co-pilot to leave the cockpit. I'm all for stronger cockpit doors but the crew shouldn't be locked in.

That's what I wonder... In what situations should a pilot leave the cockpit; I'm sure there are some - I just can't think of them. If the crew is trained to deal with the situations with the passengers, why should the pilot do it?

Not with the passengers but with the plane: some malfunctions can be better diagnosed from the cabin than the cockpit. It's a rare occurrence but probably more frequent than a hijacking.

If they want to I think they should be allowed to.

The aircraft would suffer a catastrophic depressurisation. This can be enough to bring a plane down, unless the pilots are skilled and fully in control - not a likely situation if they are fighting terrorists as well as trying to fly the plane!

Also, a bullet could pierce a fuel tank or damage a control line - either of which could have disastrous consequences. The airlines that use armed sky-marshalls (for example, El Al) make sure that anyone carrying a gun is very highly trained before being let anywhere near an aircraft!

Your comment about "some malfunctions can be better diagnosed from the cabin than the cockpit" is spot on. Locking pilots into the cabin and providing them with guns may help reduce the threat of terrorism, but it makes it harder for them to deal with other, more common problems.

Despite what happened on 11th September, far more people have been killed in planes that have crashed rather than been taken over by hijackers. All the safety procedures on board aircraft are designed primarily to deal with mechanical failures, pilot error, etc - all the things that commonly bring planes down. If procedures designed to fight terrorism make it harder to deal with other emergencies, then they could end up costing more lives than they save.

The best defence against terrorism and hijacking is to prevent potential terrorists getting on the plane in the first place. Even armed guards on the plane are no defence if someone manages to smuggle a bomb on board.

No but casually dressed Security staff should

They shouldn't be so sealed in so that they cannot escape properly in the event of a fire. However, it shouldn't be fragile either

They opened the doors, providing the hijackers with the means to take control of the cabin. They could have kept the door shut making it impossible for the hijackers to pilot the planes. But if they'd done that, I thinks it likely the hijackers would have killed everyone on board one by one. I'd have opened the doors.

Then maybe there should be a trained flight attendant that remains with the passengers to deal with these situations?

Perhaps someone has been watching a few too many James Bond movies? Let's do the math: airliners fly at about 8000 feet cabin pressure. I'll assume that our hypothetical airliner is at 40,000 feet to make this as worst-case as possible. That gives us 7 psi difference between the inside and outside. A 767 (according to Jane's) has a tad over 15,000 cubic feet of pressurized space in it's cabin.
To keep the math simple, I'll assume that our hapless pilot manages to simultaneously put ten bullets through the hull and turn off the pressurization system. Ten holes of a half inch give me roughly .05 square feet of area. My handy Machinery's Handbook gives a velocity of 360 feet per second for the escaping air (it gets a little tricky here as the velocity drops as the pressure drops). Assuming no additional input of air, it will take about twelve and a half minutes for the cabin to reach ambient pressure, not quite what I'd call explosive.
If I assume that our hapless pilot manages to simultaneously shoot out a window with each bullet while turning off the pressurization system then things get a bit more brisk: 12 seconds to reach ambient. The crew would need to scramble to get their oxygen masks on but there would be little danger to the passengers. While they'll all pass out, the crew will be able to descend before they die. Indeed, service ceilings of airliners are set partially based on how quickly they can descend to breathable air in the case of actual explosive decompression (which requires losing about 50 square feet of hull).
Shooting a gun on an airliner is not something to be taken lightly, primarily because there are all these people about, not because it's pressurized.

Absolutely not. I would prefer to see armed law enforcement personal on flights, not vigilantes.

Yes and they should also have audio and video of the passenger compartment and hot buttons to call in the forces of a hijacking problem happens.

Shoot...I kinda suspected that I was not the first to think of that.
Okay..how about tazer pistols?
Squirt guns with sulferic acid?
Force feeding airplane food to the trouble maker?
(Ewww...talk about yer cruel and unusual punishment!)

Yep. I think they should go through training and psychological crap and screening before they get to carry it though.

Yes. They need to be able to protect themselves.

People are not made safer by being rendered helpless.

Uh, isn't it a Really Bad Idea for *anyone* to go shooting a gun in a plane?

No. What if one of the pilots is a terrorist, he can.... oh never mind.

I think in that circumstance, where the event is occuring in the cockpit, it would be OK to open the door and get some help. The trouble will come from one of the passengers. Unless a terrorist can predict a heart attack, there shouldn't be any problem if the other pilot let's people into the cockpit to give aid to the heart attack victim.

The pilots should only look after the controls of the plane. The gun is for their own survival, if the door is somehow opened. The pilot has hundreds of lives to look after. They shouln't leave the cockpit, even if some nut starts shooting passengers in the back.

Not sure!! I need to ponder that a little longer.

Not particularly worse than shooting a gun any other place where there are lots of people in close proximity. That is, it's pretty bad but sometimes not shooting is worse. The whole explosive decompression concern has been blown way out of proportion; a half inch diameter hole in the skin isn't going to make much difference given that there's already a 6 to 8 inch hole to let the air out anyway. In addition, there are frangible bullets that are less likely to penetrate walls.

In a way yes for there own safety and the passengers safety, but then again you might have a situation where the gun is taken by a highjacker and made the situation worse.

Let's think about this....people who are not constantly training with a firearm, day in and day out....with a firearm....in a pressurized tube...30,000 feet in the air. NO! Sky Marshalls, who ARE constantly training with their gun, yes. As for pilots, I'd feel much safer if they were armed with knives or pistol-crossbows than firearms.

Who knows? I'm sure that there will always be other ways for the maniacs to dream up to hurt people.

Absolutely! Why not? I think there should be very sturdy walls between the passengers and pilots. Pilots should have their own supply of foodstuff, never to really ever leave their positions during flights. Their own privies.

I want to thank you for giving me the credit of writing the book "The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America." I wish I could take the credit, however, the credit goes to Charlotte Thomson-Iserbyt.

In that case, why did you ask me to read that book in answer to my previous question?

I am asking everyone to become more aware of the subversive activities of those in our government, media, and EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. Unfortunately, the generations, I believe starting with the 50's, and definitely aggressively in the 60's, 70's, so on have been dumbed down. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE AN INSULT. The educational system has been an avenue to dumb down the youth, in order to destroy this great nation. The generations in question obviously don't know they have been "dumbed" down, they have been indoctrinated, they have been brainwashed, they know nothing else. Sad, but true.

I still dont understand what you mean by they've been dumbed down... you think people are better off without an education?

What was one of the first things the Taliban Regime did when they took power; took women out of school. Smart women are a threat to them. Knowledge Is Power. And to those with less than honorable intentions, knowledge is the ultimate threat. Read 1984 sometime (or just do what I did and see the movie).

Its a really good book, even if you've seen the movie its worth reading.

Well I have it somewhere. I also have Animal Farm.

I was reading Animal Farm, but put it down somewhere and never found it again, so I just started another book instead. Do you know Paulo Coelho?

No, but the losing a book thing, I know how that feels. same thing happened to me while I was reading the Stand.

I just heard that the Taliban are now teaching women how to fire automatic weapons. What a bunch of hypocrites!!

I think airline pilots should be allowed to carry guns as long as they are fitted with rubber bullets. The first thing that needs to be done is the construction of new cockpit doors.

Maybe they could just have stun guns or something.