Pilots press Senate for guns in cockpits

Pilots' groups, accompanied by the wife of an airline captain slain on Sept. 11, are pushing the Senate to approve a measure that would allow flight crews to carry guns in their cockpits as a "last-ditch" measure to protect planes and passengers from terrorist hijackings.

"We advocate arming airline pilots with firearms to provide a last resort, final line of defense of passengers, crew and innocent civilians on the ground," Capt. Tracy Price, head of the Airline Pilots' Security Alliance, told reporters at a hastily arranged press conference in Washington today.

Price and others were gathered near the Dirksen Senate Office Building for the start of hearings called by the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to discuss armed-pilot legislation.

"The message we have for the committee members is simple," said Price. "It's time to arm airline pilots. The time for study and discussion of the issue is long past."

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"The American people and the traveling public are at risk," he said. "We call on [Senate Majority Leader] Tom Daschle [D-S.D.] and Senator Hollings to quickly get this to a fair hearing before the full Senate."

The committee, chaired by Sen. Earnest Hollings, D-S.C., will feature testimony from pilots who support and oppose carrying guns to defend cockpits, officials said.

But Ellen Saracini, widow of Capt. Victor Saracini, who was killed when his plane – United Airlines flight 175 – was flown into the second World Trade Center tower, won't be on the committee's witness list because, she said, members don't want to hear what she has to say.

"I had requested to testify before the committee, and Senator [Robert] Smith [R-N.H.] had also sent a letter requesting they let me testify," she told WorldNetDaily.

"I don't feel good at all" about being denied the opportunity to address the panel, she added. "[Committee members] will have testimony from a pilot who is for [arming pilots] and one who is against. What better testimony [than] from a victim?"

In an appearance on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" with Bill O'Reilly on Wednesday, Saracini said she and her late husband had discussed this issue of arming pilots before his plane was hijacked just over 10 months ago.

"I think that all the people from Sept. 11 need to have a voice in this, too," she said.

Saracini also said she applauded Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta's decision earlier this week to allow newly appointed Transportation Security Administration Director James Loy to study the issue of arming pilots with "lethal force capabilities."

"It's a step in the right direction, it's very encouraging," she said. "I think they realize that after viewing all of the issues of arming pilots, they have decided they don't have much to dispute."

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Capt. Phillip Beall, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American Airlines pilots, said his group not only backs arming pilots, but speaks for a number of industry organizations.

"We are all in agreement that what we need to do now … is quickly arm our pilots," he told reporters.

"I urge the committee to make a swift decision to arm our pilots," Saracini added.

Specifically, supporters are urging the committee to approve a bill authored by Smith that bypasses bureaucratic decision-making on the issue and directly authorizes qualified pilots to carry guns in cockpits.

Smith's bill, called the "Arming Pilots Against Terrorism and Cabin Defense Act," or S-2554, is gaining bipartisan support. Twenty-one co-sponsors have signed on.

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