"U.S. Pilots Union Wants Members Armed on Flights"

Monday, September 24, 2001

Main Pilots Union Wants Members Armed on Flights


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The nation's largest commercial pilots union said
on Monday it would seek support from Congress to arm pilots as a last
line of defense against hijackers. 

The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents pilots at nearly every
major carrier, said its president, Duane Woerth, would make the
recommendation at a congressional hearing on Tuesday. 

The extraordinary proposal came as lawmakers and the Bush 

administration accelerated efforts to draft plans for expanding airport
and airline security in the wake of the Sept. 11 hijackings that led to
the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. 

``This is a radical change for airline pilots but it's an indication of
the threat,'' union spokesman John Mazor said. ''This is a new type of
hijacker. All they want to do is get control of the cockpit and crash
the plane.'' 

Mazor said the union envisioned a voluntary program run by federal law
enforcement. 

``We want to make it clear that it's not going to be pilots going home
and taking their gun out of the nightstand and carrying it to work,''
Mazor said. 

He said cockpit personnel who wanted to participate would undergo
extensive background checks, training and psychological testing. 

Armed pilots would augment the expanding federal air marshals program,
in which armed plain-clothed agents travel on domestic flights.

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