Firstly... read this article:

[url]http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010927/ts/attacks_shootdowns_4.html[/url]

Then consider this irony:

Our government can shoot down our own planes... and yet the SAME government won't allow armed pilots. I know that having air marshalls is a good thing, but its the principle that kills me.

Much like a lot of things that are happening in the past two weeks, does this strike anybody else as another case of closing the proverbial barn door a tad late?

This also concerned me.....What about if the pilots went through some kind of air disturbance and passed out (it happened to a famous golfer's plane that crashed a year ago).  Since no one can get to the cockpit due to the new door, the plane veered off course and boom! got shot down by an F-16.

Do like the Brazilians, everyone is armed on the plane.

Any of the cockpit crew with a weapon and an intent to kill everyone could kill the other members of the crew and take over the plane with the reinforced doors.  A gun is just another weapon in that situation.  Though, someone would have to be really dedicated to put that much time and effort into becoming a licensed commercial pilot, getting a job with an airline and waiting for his turn to make a statement.

There was some talk of installing systems that allow people on the ground to takeover the controls and fly the plane.  If that happens, this situation will become irrelevant because the ability to takeover a plane remotely will be the target for exploitation.

And not run the risk of meeting Allah to do it.

I doubt there's any serious work towards actually doing this yet, just a knee jerk response.  However, if they do implement it, this would make me much more reluctant to fly in the future than what happened a couple weeks ago.

If one pilot were a rogue, it wouldn't matter whether he was armed with a gun or not.  He could simply whack his copilot in the head, then put the plane into the ground -- or attack and kill the copilot and do whatever he wanted.

Remember the EgyptAir flight that splashed a couple of years ago?  The copilot and pilot were both in the cockpit;  the copilot didn't attack the pilot;  yet by actively opposing the pilot's attempts to keep the plane flying, the copilot managed to crash the plane.

As far as arming pilots I am all for that. I think Bush's objection is against the airline pilots union's plan. Make the pilots sworn federal agents with all training and equipment issue from the Govt. coffers. I think that all training a certification as well as equipmrent should be paid by the pilots. I also think that armed pilots worry the airlines as far as a liability issue.