CHARLOTTE, N.C.—It was only a matter of time before there’d be an accidental, non-negligent discharge of a Federal Flight Deck Officer’s weapon. Saturday a U.S. Airways pilot’s gun discharged on Flight 1536, which left Denver at approximately 6:45am and arrived in Charlotte at approximately 11:51am. The Airbus A319 plane landed safely and thankfully none of the flight’s 124 passengers or five crew members was injuredThe insane procedures required by the TSA demands that our pilots to lock and then un-lock their .40 side arms was and is a solid recipe for disaster. Did the TSA deliberately create this bizarre and unconventional Rube Goldberg firearm retention system hoping for this result? The sordid history of the FAA and TSA’s total resistance to the concept of arming pilots to protect Americans is in itself a scandal.
Putting a gun into a holster and then threading a padlock through the trigger and trigger-guard is required every time the pilots enter or leave the cockpit. This kind of silliness has never been forced on any law enforcement or security officers anywhere in the world until now. Before this holster padlock procedure pilots with guns were forced to carry them around in a cumbersome 22 pound vault. The vault caused problems in the confined space of most cockpits.
FFDO pilots need to carry their side arms in conventional concealed holsters and there is no reason for the unnecessary handling of their firearms in the cockpits.
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Comments
Imagine as a local law enforcement agent if you had to keep your weapon in this lock and in a bag until you got in your squad car. Only then could you unlock it and while seated undo your belt and put the weapon on. Then if you had to go to the bathroom you had to undo your belt again, remove the weapon, install the lock, and place it in a little bag again. After the hernia you'd never go to the bathroom or leave your squad car again. I've spoken to many an FFDO and while they are very professional and take carrying very seriously, they are amazed that eventhough the are the commanders of the aircraft they still aren't trusted.
Imagine as a local law enforcement agent if you had to keep your weapon in this lock and in a bag until you got in your squad car. Only then could you unlock it and while seated undo your belt and put the weapon on. Then if you had to go to the bathroom you had to undo your belt again, remove the weapon, install the lock, and place it in a little bag again. After the hernia you'd never go to the bathroom or leave your squad car again. I've spoken to many an FFDO and while they are very professional and take carrying very seriously, they are amazed that eventhough the are the commanders of the aircraft they still aren't trusted.
Pilots are specifically prohibited from coming out of the cockpit to deal with ANY situation. The jurisdiction of an FFDO is the cockpit, and his/her mission is only to keep unauthorized people from entering the cockpit.
Once the mainstream media picks it up, pressure will focus on congress to make the sorely need changes.
Congress isn't the problem. Congress has authorized the armed pilots program twice now, with very little administrative BS. All the BS content is added in the executive branch by Bush administration weenies (like Norman Mineta) trying their best to undermine the program while not showing direct contempt of Congress. The Bush administration is not a friend of armed self-defense for the unsworn, despite Ashcroft's empty lip service.
Somebody's priorities are askew.