IceTrojan

So do you actually believe that, or do you just like to regurgitate common thoughts without backup?

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).

Jakebeth

Is that report available somewhere on the internet?

UMassCanuck07

An armed off-duty law enforcement officer carrying a gun is called a "LEO"...

Most of them are off-duty FBI, ATF and local police officers who have had threats upon their lives and they carry the gun for personal protection reasons.

It has been happening for years. They always preboard and have to chat with the Captain.

They have to have an official letter for EACH flight they take from their superior as well as airline and TSA paperwork. They cannot just show a badge and board a plane with a gun.

FWAAA

http://www.miamisao.com/publications...alshooting.pdf


Warning: Graphic photos of deceased included. The human body contains an amazing quantity of blood, especially when perforated by several rounds.

bambi47

All Law Enforcement Officers are called LEO's. Any LEO boarding a plane while being armed has to have permission from their department, and they must log into whichever checkpoint they are going through. They always enter through the exit lane and have to show their credentials before entering. I don't know where you got your info, but its wrong.

PhlyingRPh

Have you seen what American police officers are trained to do if a person refuses to obey their orders and continues to walk toward them? Yes, they are trained to shoot the "belligerent", dead in some cases.

I'm not happy about being on a plane with a policeman who, however well intentioned, could shoot a hole through the fuselage that would suck me out for a 35,000 foot fall lasting a good 3-5 minutes before I splatter myself over Gods clean earth.

justageek

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...

bambi47

Although a bullet could damage the fuselage, you would not be sucked out of the plane....you've seen way too many movies.

FWAAA

Agreed.

Of all the possible reasons to oppose firearms on airplanes, this one ain't on the legitimate list. If explosive decompression were a likely result from a firearm round piercing the airplane, then thousands of marshals, postal inspectors, IRS agents, Boder Patrol agents, USDA inspectors and others would not be authorized to carry firearms on board.

As an aside, if you were sucked thru that half-inch hole (you wouldn't be), wouldn't that pretty much liquify you on the way out?

IceTrojan

Somebody obviously didn't watch Mythbusters.

justageek

Am I crazy, or are the aircraft seating diagrams in the section on witness reports taken from seatguru.com?!?

FWAAA

While I agree with your overall point, let's not forget that the midwest has no monopoly on peace officers willing to shoot unarmed subjects for no apparent reason, even when those persons appear to be following the officer's every command:

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...a/15499213.htm

Bad apples can even be found on the enlightened left coast, although there may be a reasonable argument that Chino is a long, lonely drive from the left coast.

Unfortunately, when all you got is a Sig Sauer .357, everything looks like a good shoot. Even when it's just a mentally ill unarmed man.

FWAAA

Nope, you're not crazy - they even contain Seatguru's copyright info.

FWAAA

I posted in support of armed flight crews maybe 100 times prior to the ultimate passage of the legislation, but I wouldn't go quite that far; I would agree that had the flight crews been armed, and if Mineta had informed the airlines of Moussaui's arrest several weeks earlier and warned them not to automatically assume a hijacking was a relatively benign event then there's a strong possibility that September 11 might have turned out much differently than it did. And if law-abiding pax otherwise eligible to carry handguns had been onboard with firearms, the outcome would probably have been much less tragic.

Dunno if I'd say it would not have happened, though.