Bill addresses liability
of armed pilots

A federal bill that would allow commercial airline pilots to be armed contains a provision that absolves both airlines and pilots from legal liability should innocent parties be harmed during attempts to thwart a hijacking.

The measure, called the Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act, or H.R. 4635, is currently under consideration by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. According to a spokesman, it "clearly" frees airlines from blame if an armed pilot injures or kills a passenger while intervening to stop hijackers.

The measure "has a whole section addressing the liability issue," Steve Hansen, a committee official and spokesman for Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska – the committee's chairman – told WND.

The issue of liability involving gun use by pilots has been of major concern to airlines for years, says Capt. Robert Lambert, a commercial pilot and co-founding board member of the Airline Pilots' Security Alliance, which has sponsored a petition drive to gain support for arming pilots.

He said while airlines were concerned about gun-liability issues prior to the Sept. 11 attacks, "they have a lot of liabilities after Sept. 11, too."

As WorldNetDaily reported today, the Federal Aviation Administration at one time had a rule that would have allowed airlines to apply for an FAA-approved armed pilot training program.

The rule was inexplicably rescinded in July 2001 – just two months before the Sept. 11 attacks – after being implemented following the Cuban missile crisis in 1961 as a measure to guard against hijackings.

An FAA official told WND that in 40 years time, not a single airline ever took advantage of the rule to arm its pilots.

Some lawmakers and pilot advocacy groups thought the issue was resolved last fall when President Bush signed new aviation security measures. A provision of that law allows commercial airline pilots to be armed.

However, according to the law, the final decision was left to the director of the newly created Transportation Security Administration, headed by John Magaw. And reports say neither he nor Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, whose agency is responsible for the TSA, favor armed pilots. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge has also shunned the idea of allowing pilots to be armed.

The current bill under consideration by the House committee mandates the "Under Secretary of Transportation for Security to … deputize qualified volunteer pilots as [armed] federal law enforcement officers." And an increasing number of lawmakers support it.

"Arming trained and qualified flight crew members is a necessary step to ensure the safety and security of the flying public," Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House Transportation Committee's subcommittee on aviation said during a hearing on the subject May 2. "Nothing else can provide the deterrence or effectiveness of a weapon wielded by a highly trained individual."

"The events of Sept. 11 have dramatically changed how we must defend our planes and passengers," Young said. "I strongly believe that under today's circumstances, we must allow trained and qualified pilots to serve as the last line of defense against potential terrorist attacks."

Asked to comment whether the airlines may be partially to blame for the Sept. 11 attacks by refusing to arm their pilots under the FAA's former rule, Hansen said the answer may not be a simple one.

"You have to consider the fact the rules of engagement for hijackings have changed since Sept. 11," he said. Prior to the attacks, airlines, lawmakers and security officials "were operating under the premise that hijackers would take over a plane to extract demands," not use them as guided missiles.

"Hijackers either wanted the plane to go to a different destination or wanted to hold passengers" for political reasons, he said. "Pilots in the air Sept. 11 probably would have worked under the premise that the hijackers simply wanted to divert the jet to a different area.

"We've learned a lot since then," Hansen said. "Arming pilots is one idea Chairman Young and others believe" is necessary, especially given the knowledge that an American fighter "could be ordered to shoot down airliners being hijacked in the future."

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