FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Off-Duty Police Officers Permitted to be Armed with Guns on Flights
Old Sep 12, 2006 | 10:57 pm
  #23  
justageek
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: SFO
Programs: AA PLT; UA Gold
Posts: 5,378
Originally Posted by J-M
No mistake was made, as was indicated in the final report. The FAMs acted correctly according to protocol given the situation and the information they had (a man claiming to have a bomb reaching into a bag).
Actually this proves my point more than anything. The "proper protocol" that they followed didn't give them enough time to realize that the guy did not actually have a bomb.

If the MIA shooting was considered justified, it's hard to imagine any in-cabin shooting that wouldn't also be considered justified.

We're giving the people with guns in the cabin an impossible job--make a split-second decision about whether someone has a bomb. There's more chance of them shooting someone they think has a bomb but doesn't (as in the MIA jetway), than them actually shooting someone with a bomb (has never happened in the entire history of the FAM program). Not to mention that shooting someone with a bomb may not even prevent it from detonating...
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