Do you think airline crews should be armed, or at least the pilot?

Yes, I definitely think the pilots should be issued guns AND given regular training on how to use them.

Absolutely! Give the crew and the air marshal a gun! For goodness sake a box cutter should not be what causes such a horrendous and tragic event to occur! I would rather have read the story that a terrorist attempted to hijack a plane but was told very directly “um.. mfer I have a gun. wtf is this box cutter all about? You’re under arrest you schputz!”

I become almost nauseous when I hear people afraid to place guns in such a situation. People who are trained to use such weapons properly should benefit from the security of having them.

What’s next? Take away guns from our armed forces? Have police roaming the streets with pepper spray and batons only?

Not using particle board for a cockpit door seems to work. As long as nobody can get into the cockpit I don’t see why they would need guns. Sure, the passengers could be slaughtered but the same would then apply to bus drivers.

Tasers seem like a good idea on a plane.

Anything to defend themselves would be good, and/or a stronger, locked door, like @johnpowell stated.

They already are by now over 15% of our pilots are packin.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-03-31-armed-pilots_N.htm

Negative. Ever heard of Sky Marshals?

@john65pennington Sky Marshals are on less than 1% of flights. In over 15 years of being an airline pilot I have had 2 Sky Marshals and they are easily spotted by anyone who knows to look.

I was against the FFDO program when it started and have done a complete 180 in my way of thinking. Totally voluntary program and a GREAT group of guys and gals carry firearms on our flight decks everyday with a very small percentage of problems.

Bullets can do very bad things to the fuselage of airplanes. Decompression, hitting control wires or fuel tanks… I think maybe they should be armed with tasers though.

@downtide – Yeah! You have a very good point there! If the terrorists only have box cutters and broken bottles, you don’t need an Uzi to have superior firepower :-p

@john65pennington – That would be true IF they put at least 2 Sky Marshals on every plane in flight.

Nope. I don’t want there to be any weapons on the plane.
I don’t want a terrorist to be able to rely on getting the pilots gun.
Just lock the pilots cabin door, and if there is trouble: turbulence!

@filmfann – No weapons at all? (Not even a nuclear-powered ray gun?) Awwww, you’re no fun :-p

@HungryGuy Okay, how about if we require all stewardesses to be kung-fu masters?

@filmfann – Works for me :-p

Why not just drug all passengers. Problem solved. lol
Fly with Xanax air.

Yes.

I honestly wouldnt mind if I was a passenger on a plane and ended up getting knocked out from some kinda sleeping gas or nitrous if it meant stopping a would be terrorist.

@uberbatman

Every airline should have an on board hypnotist. lol
After everyone is put in a trance they subliminally plant the suggestion in your subconscious that you are deeply relaxed, will not need to use the bathroom and will have no ability or desire to move until the hypnotist suggests that you can move again. haha

Yes.

Sky Marshals have specially designed weapons that are carried onboard airplanes. I doubt very seriously if pilots would be allowed these weapons or even have knowledge of them. The good part about Sky Marshals is the unknown. The average flyer does not know what to look for or for the most part, do not even think about a Sky Marshal being aboard their flight.

I am against pilots having onboard weapons for many reasons. The main being the weapon taken away from them. Pilots are pilots, not trained police officers or Sky Marshals.

Do away with first class accommodations, they aren’t that great anyway and employ a Sky Marshal on the flights instead.

@john65pennington As said above, thatd be great if they were actually on every flight.

“Although their exact numbers are kept classified, airline insiders estimate that only five percent of U.S. flights have an air marshal on board. This is still a major increase – in the years before 9/11, a handful of marshals guarded just a few international flights.”

Why arent there more of them?

Are U.S. Marshals that easy to pick out on a full plane? I don’t think they would be, if they wore normal street clothes.

@john65pennington You are correct about SM’s having a different type of weapon and also correct about the average traveler not knowing they are there. The problem with the program is (as almost always) the regulations that go along with it. Frequent Flyers can pick out SM’s without blinking an eye. I won’t go into specifics on a public board but the enemy knows who they are and as stated earlier, they are way too few and far between on flights.

Armed pilots do go through a very intensive training program taught by the best instructors in the world. On top of that, the vast majority of pilots who volunteer for the program are gun enthusiasts to start with. Everyone in the program that I know have been handling guns for many years and are very familiar with their weapon. I know of at least two pilots that carry that are former police officers. That is not to say accidents can’t happen. (I know a police officer that shot a whole in his squad car showing off a new pistol.)

As far as decompression from a bullet, that is a myth. It only happens on TV.

The best answer is usually a combination of different programs. SM’s, armed pilots, SOP’s for flight attendants…all have a place.

One last thing to remember about SM’s is that the program is very expensive for the airline and that cost is passed on to the passenger. If the SM’s are flying on a two cabin airplane one will be in First Class at the airlines expense. First Class is where they make most of their money.