Airplane Discharge Update
In an update to this, seems it may be accidental. And by accidental, I mean caused by policy:
The 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.
Trigger locks? No kidding? And Flight Deck Officers carry HKs. So, how do I collect?
March 25th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
This is a weird statement, though:
I’m not quite sure how that follows. Mohammed Atta had the ability to fly a 747 across the Pacific…
March 25th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Rule 5? Keep your pad lock out of the trigger guard until your sights are on the target?
March 25th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
t,
I’m pretty certain he means legally.
Although, then that doesn’t logically follow. More of a common sense follow. In general, a person who has undergone the training and vetting needed to be trusted with the lives of hundreds of people in such a complex machine on such a routine basis should be able to be trusted with a much simpler machine.
March 25th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Mo Atta could fly a 747 across an ocean … but his landing would suck.
March 25th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
tgirsch, true, except for the takeoff and landing part. But I agree that statement is one big non sequitor.
March 25th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Does anyone have that holster? Is the lock slot not behind the trigger?
March 25th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
The TSA has deliberately made this program as complex, asinine and idiotic as possible to discourage pilots from participating.
CCL holders should be allowed to carry anywhere, including in the cockpit, cabin, college campuses, church, et, et.
This is only hard because liberals are MAKING it hard on purpose.
March 25th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Robert,
Actually, AMERICANS should be able to carry…
It’s one of the things that makes our nation different, or at least it was.
March 25th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Quote from 2nd article:
>
Uh, that’s not true. I don’t know who this Boyd is or why he’s being asked to comment. Oh, right he’s a consultant:
>
Just another form of PSH. “If a bullet punctures the skin, it’s going down!” Same site claims the AP has a photo of the exit hole on the exterior of the plane…. and guess what, it landed just fine and none of the passengers ever even had any idea that it had happened:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/15704844/detail.html
So, it appears the pilot was probably fiddling with his gun in the middle of the flight and inadvertently pulled the trigger. The trigger lock holster is obviously stupid and practically begging for something like this to happen, but why was the pilot messing with it during preparations to land? It just doesn’t make sense.
Fortunately there is a flight recorder that should pick up everything going on in the cockpit, so the truth will out sooner or later.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Oops. Somehow the quotes got dropped from my comment above.
Quote 1: “At that altitude, you puncture the skin of an airplane, it’s going to go down. They were very lucky,” Boyd said.
Quote 2: Mike Boyd, who runs the Colorado-based aviation consulting firm The Boyd Group.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
When I was a kid, I’m pretty sure I rode in a couple of airliners in which both pilots were armed. Got to go up in the flight deck, watch blinkenlights, little Delta wings pin, etc.
You see, up until 1967 or so, there was this thing called “the Mail Gun.” If the plane was carrying US Mail, as most did, the flight crew were REQUIRED to be armed. Ernest K. Gann said in his autobiography how relieved they were when their line lobbied to allow them to unbuckle the gunbelts once airborne.
March 25th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
P.s. DC-6Bs, they were. My favorite airliner of all time for easy-going non-pretentious comfort. Ah for the days when airports smelled of gasoline, not kerosine!
March 25th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Maybe if your .40 round has a several-pound shaped charge stuck to it. Otherwise, no.
And this guy runs an aviation consulting company?
March 25th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Mr. Boyd of the Boyd Group aviation consulting firm apparently doesn’t watch Myth Busters either. They tried their best to cause a catastrophic failure in a fuselage from a firearm round penetrating the skin and windows. No joy. Only a hissing sound as the pressure leaked out. They didn’t try but I suspect you could stop that with a piece of cardboard or gum.
If a round penetrating the skin will bring down a plane, then it is the height of negligence to allow Air Marshals to carry guns. Where does TSA believe a round will go if the marshal happens to miss if he fires his weapon?
Still, I’m not sure the pilots should be armed. In an emergency, I like the pilots to be in their seats getting the plane safely to the ground. Now, if you wish to arm the flight attendants, well, that would be alright. I wouldn’t mind if they suspended the beverage service to put some terrorist down.
March 26th, 2008 at 7:58 am
“Still, I’m not sure the pilots should be armed. In an emergency, I like the pilots to be in their seats getting the plane safely to the ground.”
Oh, yeah? Well, I say that that completely depends on the nature of the emergency. If a bad guy somehow manages to get into the cockpit, the very last thing that I want is two aircrew in their seats like they’re sitting in church.
Does the word “context” ever occur to you?