Posted on 05/29/2002 12:47:02 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
As early as 1987, the Federal Aviation Administration adopted a rule ensuring that commercial pilots could not board planes with guns, despite existing regulations that permitted pilots, under certain conditions, to be armed, according to an industry group.
The Airline Pilots' Security Alliance, or APSA, said in an e-mail memo sent to members last week that the FAA began "disarming pilots" more than 15 years ago by requiring them "to pass through screening checkpoints" after "a suicidal attacker broke into the cockpit of an airliner, murdered the pilots and crashed the airplane."
The screening process was enacted and enforced despite a 1960s-era FAA rule already on the books that permitted pilots to be armed as long as participating airlines adopted an agency-approved training program.
Additionally, the pilot-screening process was continued by the FAA throughout the latter 1990s and beyond, even as the agency was receiving intelligence information from government counterterrorism experts claiming that U.S. airlines were at increased risk of terrorist hijackings.
As WorldNetDaily reported earlier this month, FAA officials have admitted rescinding the armed-pilot rule – initiated in response to the 1961 Cuban missile crisis – in July 2001, just two months before the Sept. 11 hijackings.
In a separate story, WND reported that the FAA nixed the rule despite being briefed by the government's top counterterrorism expert the very same month that terrorist hijackings could be on the horizon.
The APSA memo claimed that the process to rescind the rule began in July 2001 and was scheduled to take effect in September – around the time of the hijackings that saw terrorists commandeer flight decks and fly fully fueled airliners into both World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.
But John Mazor, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, told WND the FAA directive rescinding the armed-pilot rule was issued July 17, 2001 and took effect much later – on Nov. 14, 2001.
That means the FAA was not only actively working to prohibit pilots from carrying weapons despite increased hijacking risks to the airlines, but agency officials also consciously rescinded the only regulation that might have protected flight crews against terrorist hijackers.
When contacted for comment, FAA officials referred all questions surrounding the July 2001 intelligence briefings and the decision to rescind the armed-pilot rule to the agency's parent bureau, the Department of Transportation. But, as in the past, DOT officials refused to return repeated phone calls seeking explanation.
Meanwhile, Transportation Security Administration Under Secretary John Magaw yesterday said in testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee he would not implement a provision of law passed last fall that allows airline pilots to be armed.
The TSA chief gave no reason for his decision, but said a formal announcement would be made later this week. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge also have expressed opposition to arming pilots.
Magaw's testimony yesterday echoes similar statements made last week, when he told a separate Senate panel he would not allow pilots to be armed because he believes they should focus on "flying the plane."
Airline industry groups that have supported the armed-pilot concept were quick to respond to Magaw's decision.
"We are disappointed, but not surprised, by this announcement. The administration, under the influence of opposition by the airlines, has been telegraphing its intent for several months now," said Capt. Duane Woerth, president of ALPA.
"The government already has told us that if terrorists take control of one of our cockpits, they will send military aircraft to shoot down the airliner and all its crew and passengers," Woerth said. "In the face of such choices, we do not understand why these same government officials refuse to give pilots a last chance to prevent such a tragedy."
Under an airline security bill passed in the wake of Sept. 11, Magaw, as head of the TSA, was given discretion over whether to implement a provision of the measure allowing pilots to be armed, as long as airlines approved.
Gary Burns, a spokesman for Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said his boss "disagrees wholeheartedly" with Magaw's decision, but he pointed out that Magaw has also stated that "if Congress would pass [armed pilot] legislation, he would 'salute and enforce it.'"
"We intend to move forward with that legislation," said Burns, noting that its progress has been temporarily postponed in deference to Democrats on the House committee so that they may try to work out some disagreements.
Mica, chairman of the House Transportation Committee's aviation subcommittee, has co-sponsored legislation with the full committee's chairman, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, that would allow airline pilots be armed.
Despite his public pronouncements, a congressional aide told WND yesterday that Mineta, in private talks last week, has assured key lawmakers he too would "vigorously" enforce any new law that specifically called for arming pilots, should Congress and President Bush approve one.
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