Pilots Told No Guns in Cockpit

The Bush administration on Tuesday denied airline pilots permission to carry guns in the cockpit, angering pilots who had sought that authority and setting up a fight with Congress over the issue.

In announcing his decision at a Senate hearing on aviation security, transportation security chief John W. Magaw said that armed sky marshals were better suited to defend against would-be hijackers and that pilots “really need to be in control of that aircraft.”

Pilots accused the administration of caving in to pressure from the airlines, which oppose arming pilots.

Congressional Republican leaders vowed to press ahead with legislation that would allow pilots to carry weapons.

“The battle up on the Hill has really just begun,” said Sam Mayer, speaking for the Allied Pilots Assn., which represents pilots for American Airlines.

A House committee this week is expected to approve a bill permitting pilots to carry guns. Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate.

The administration is still considering whether to allow pilots to carry nonlethal weapons, such as stun guns. United Airlines has already ordered 1,300 Tasers.

Magaw told the Senate Commerce and Transportation Committee that air marshals would do “whatever they have to, to the point of giving up their own life, to make sure” the cockpit remains protected.

“The cockpit in the aircraft is for the pilots to maintain positive control of that aircraft,” said Magaw, a former Secret Service director. “And the positive control to them ... is get it on the ground as quickly as you can, regardless of what’s happening back there.”

New rules provide for reinforced cockpit doors to prevent would-be hijackers from reaching the airplane’s controls, and officials are exploring the use of cameras so that pilots can monitor the passenger cabin.

Responding to Magaw’s statement, Duane Woerth, a Northwest Airlines captain and president of the Air Line Pilots Assn., which represents pilots for 42 airlines, said, “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. 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.”

Mayer, an American Airlines captain, challenged Magaw’s thinking, noting that there are two pilots in the cockpit--one of whom could remain at the controls while the other used a gun as a last line of defense.

“We’ll never have enough air marshals to protect us,” said Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure aviation subcommittee and a sponsor of the legislation to let pilots carry guns.

The number of air marshals is a secret. But Transportation Department Secretary Norman Y. Mineta told the committee, “We continue working aggressively to put in place a robust federal air marshal program and will remain exactly on track with the targets” provided to Congress in a closed meeting.

Dawn Deeks, a spokeswoman for the 50,000-member Assn. of Flight Attendants, supported the administration’s decision, saying that firearms in the cockpit provide a false sense of security.

“A gun locked up behind a reinforced door does nothing to protect people in the cabin,” she said. Her group is seeking to give flight attendants self-defense training and access to unspecified non-lethal weapons.

Mineta had previously expressed opposition to arming pilots, but no official announcement was made until Tuesday.

On another matter, Mineta warned the senators that air passengers would face longer lines and flight delays unless Congress approved the administration’s request for $4.4 billion to further increase airport security.

“Unfortunately, some members of Congress have signaled a hesitancy to allocate the resources necessary to properly secure America’s aviation system,” Mineta told the committee.

“They say that we cannot afford the security commitment that was made some six months ago. The truth is, we cannot afford less than the full $4.4 billion that the president proposed.”

Democrats and Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee are proposing $400 million less than the administration wants, contending that the new Transportation Security Administration has failed to justify its proposed spending.

“The administration should not expect the committee to recommend large expenditures of public funds without justification--even for crucial activities,” a committee report said.

The new agency is moving to hire 50,000 passenger and baggage screeners and install explosive detection systems in commercial airports by the end of the year.

Mineta also was grilled about what warnings the administration received--and what actions they took--before terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11.

“Steps could have been taken to strengthen airport security,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) contended.

Mineta defended the decision not to tell airlines about the August arrest in Minnesota of Zacarias Moussaoui, a man the FBI has since accused of being the intended 20th hijacker.

Mineta said that a Sept. 5 FBI cable to the Federal Aviation Administration noted that Moussaoui wanted to learn how to “take off and land a 747.”

He said the cable “did not say that he only wanted to learn how to take off.”

“Nothing in the cable indicated that the suspect had ties to any terrorist group,” Mineta added.

He said the FAA decided that the threat was too general and that it would wait for further information from the FBI before notifying airlines and airports.