Access Control
& Security Systems

Citing a continued need to maximize airline security, a spokesman for the nation's largest pilot union urged Congress to pass a bill to mandate a program to allow pilots to carry firearms in the cockpit.

"More than 3,000 people were murdered, billions of dollars of property damage was incurred, the nation's economy was rocked and is still suffering, thousands of people were laid off, and billions of dollars of new spending will be allocated to security -- all because eight pilots were killed," said Capt. Steve Luckey, security chairman for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). "It is obvious, or should be, that protecting the flight deck and its occupants against hijackers is now tantamount to protecting our national economy."

Luckey was testifying at hearings by the House Aviation Subcommittee, which is looking into the question of arming pilots.

The ALPA supports the Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act sponsored by Don Young (R-Ark.) and John Mica (R-Fla.), which mandates a program for qualified, trained, volunteer pilots to be deputized as Federal Flight Deck Officers and carry firearms as a last line of defense against terrorists.

From 1961 to 2001, pilots were permitted to carry firearms. Many did so -- and safely -- during the Cuban hijackings of the 1970s. Ironically, the FAA revoked that regulation last July, shortly before the Sept. 11 attack.

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