May
22, 2002, 9:20 a.m. Armed
Pilots
A needed security
measure.
By Eli Lehrer
ohn
W. Magaw, a career federal law enforcer and head of the Transportation
Security Administration, told a senatorial committee Tuesday that his
agency wouldn't allow commercial airline pilots to carry guns in cockpits.
While Magaw made reasoned decision, it isn't the right one for the long
term.
At first blush, the
case against letting pilots carry guns appears strong. After all, no major
airline anywhere in the world allows it. While planes do not explode when
bullets pierce their hulls, firing a projectile weapon on board an aircraft
does pose some special risks: A bullet puncture would usually require
a pilot to make a speedy and perhaps risky descent. In a crowded airplane
cabin, likewise, a panicked individual with a gun could easily hit an
innocent bystander. Storomza Tsahi, who directs security for Israel's
famously safe state-run airline, El Al makes another good argument: "We
do everything we can to secure the pilots. If they have guns, then the
hijackers know where they can get them," he told me.
And, thankfully,
the issue may never come up. The TSA will return the national government
to its constitutional duty of protecting the people against piracy and,
thus, correct the disastrous failure
of private airline security. In many respects, the TSA promises to
become a model law-enforcement agency: It will set high training standards,
use the best technology, and has even retained high-powered consulting
firms to develop customer feedback instruments. Like many of the best
private companies, the TSA will constantly improve its performance by
asking people how well (or poorly) it does its job. A larger air-marshal
corps, better baggage inspection, and secure cockpit doors have already
reduced the chances of hijacking.
In a post-9/11 environment it appears impossible that any successful hijacker
would survive his crime: He could either repeat September 11, die at the
hands of an air marshal, face a passenger lynch mob, or be blown up by
an Air Force missile. If a terrorist actually made his way to a cockpit,
he would have already left a long trial of bodies in his wake.
And that's exactly
why pilots should have guns: Using one would represent a last-ditch effort
to save lives. It would create significant danger but not as much
as crashing an airplane into a building. Given the size of the American
air-transportation system and the infinitesimal chances that terrorists
would ever target a Des Moines-St. Louis puddle jumper, many pilots will
make a reasoned decision not to carry guns; terrorists couldn't rely on
finding one on board. Pilots couldn't use them indiscriminately either:
Any well-run airline would fire an employee who brandished a weapon to
quiet an inebriated customer. On the other hand, terrorists would have
to plan for the possibility that pilots would have weapons. The greatly
reduced chances of success could turn even the most dedicated martyrs
to other acts of mayhem.
In recent years,
the United States has become a much safer nation thanks to community-policing
philosophies that rely on partnerships between citizens and law enforcement.
Acknowledging that a security agency, even a very good one, cannot do
everything itself is the first step towards effective policing. And letting
pilots carry weapons is just the sort of modest acknowledgement of its
own limitations the TSA ought to make. Congress should overrule Magaw's
decision or, at the very least, require his agency to revisit it once
it has hired a full staff. Safety demands it.
—
Eli Lehrer is a senior editor at The
American Enterprise. He is co-author, with former Attorney General
Edwin Meese, of the upcoming Revolution in Blue: Seven Principles
of American Community Policing.
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ohn
W. Magaw, a career federal law enforcer and head of the Transportation
Security Administration, told a senatorial committee Tuesday that his
agency wouldn't allow commercial airline pilots to carry guns in cockpits.
While Magaw made reasoned decision, it isn't the right one for the long
term. 
