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Should airline pilots be allowed to have a loaded pistol on the plane?

Should pilots be allowed to keep a pistol on the plane?

  • Yes, I think this is a great idea.

    Votes: 39 73.6%

  • No, I disagree to this idea.

    Votes: 8 15.1%

  • Undecided. I think it should be open to more debate.

    Votes: 6 11.3%
  • Total voters
    53
EgoffTib said:
Did you see the mythbusters where they broke out a window on plane? I hate to spoil it for you, but the plane did not depressurize.
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It did depressurize, but it was slow , not an explosion or Goldfinger getting sucked out the window.
 
EgoffTib said:
Did you see the mythbusters where they broke out a window on plane? I hate to spoil it for you, but the plane did not depressurize.
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It seems like it would depend on the altitude. Obviously it would have very little effect while on the ground. But if it were to happen on the space shuttle while in orbit you would obviously have a slightly bigger problem.

On Mythbusters they were testing whether the explosive decompression would throw someone from the plane. That isn't the real danger. Explosive decompression sucks the air out of your lungs, sometimes damaging them in the process. And since humans need air to breathe, anyone unable to strap one of those hanging air thingies on could be dead in a matter of minutes.
 
Skateguy said:
I feel everyone should be armed. Why just the crew. We all need to learn to protect what is ours. The gubment can't possibly do it for us. ---Then when things calm down, we can leave our guns back above the mantle, till needed again.
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Too many people get drunk while flying. Not a good idea for a bunch hotheaded drunk flyers with guns in the air:shock:
 
stalin_was_a_nice_being said:
NO, GOD NO NO NO NO!!! I have met some airline pilots who were the biggest douches ever. Give them a gun and an even bigger worth of themself you will have a bunch of dead passengers because he did not like them or innocent passengers being turned against because the pilot did not like them. Most pilots are not heros or great its a job. The pilots who gave up the airplane on 9/11 were dumb. You never open the door to a terrorist. Instead just have a reenforced door and that should fix any possibility for a terrorist gaining control of the plane.
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Not to mention some tend to like to hit the bottle before flights:2razz:
 
Kali said:
Too many people get drunk while flying. Not a good idea for a bunch hotheaded drunk flyers with guns in the air:shock:
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Wouldn't the knowledge, that a Plane was full of drunk Red necks with guns, be enough to discourage a terrorist for picking that flight? I think it would make them take the "Safe flight" full of "Hippie Peacenicks" ---sheep are easier to deal with than Tigers.
 
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stalin_was_a_nice_being said:
Nothing wrong, and no I am not an unstable person. You don't even know the very definition of an unstable person which shows you don't know anything therefore you should keep your mouth shut.
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I don't know, it sounds like you have serious anger issues. I don't believe you are a pilot at all. I've never met a pilot, with any level rating, who lost their temper so quickly, and over something so trivial. If they ever do decide to allow pilots to carry, and you actually are a pilot, I have confidence in the process that your anger issues will be discovered and you will not be saddled with the additional responsibility of carrying a gun.
 
Vader said:
Provided the weapon in question is located with ceramic rounds that cannot pierce the hull of the aircraft; I see nothing wrong with it.
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Actually, I saw an expert speak about this on a news show recently. He basically said that the idea of explosive decompression from bullet holes is a myth. I further note that the Mythbusters showed that passengers won't get blown out even if a window is ruptured.
 
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Oftencold said:
Actually, I saw an expert speak about this on a news show recently. He basically said that the idea of explosive decompression from bullet holes is a myth. I further note that the Mythbusters showed that passengers won't get blown out even if a window is ruptured.
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Not getting blown out a window is not the only danger of rapid decompression.
 
Every adult passenger should be issued a box cutter when boarding the plane, and have to turn it in when exiting the plane.
 
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLjNJI54GMM&feature=PlayList&p=B04244B24DFE87BB&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=15"]YouTube- Archie Bunker on Gun Control[/ame]
 
Redress said:
Not getting blown out a window is not the only danger of rapid decompression.
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I always get a kick out of the movies that depict big fat people getting sucked through tiny portholes.:lol:
 
Dirty Harry said:
And you assume that they can.
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Which is a resonable and prudent assumption, especially given the circumstances.

A re-enforced door with proper locking mechanism can not be penetrated without explosives and if they have explosives, guns ain't gonna help.
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Again, this is just your assumption.
 
Tsunami said:
It seems like it would depend on the altitude. Obviously it would have very little effect while on the ground. But if it were to happen on the space shuttle while in orbit you would obviously have a slightly bigger problem.
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Commercial aitliners top out at 40k or so.

On Mythbusters they were testing whether the explosive decompression would throw someone from the plane. That isn't the real danger.
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Explosive decompression is a myth.

...decompression sucks the air out of your lungs, sometimes damaging them in the process.
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Assuming that the pressurization system, fed from the massive amounts of air by-passing the engines, cannot keep up with a few 0.5" holes in the pressue cabin, yes.
 
Everyone on the plane should have a gun, that way even if a terrorist manages to get on board, with pals, he will still be outnumbered and out gunned.

Well, unless he has a bomb. Airlines really need to worry less about guns and toothpaste and perhaps look into the possibility of keeping bombs off the plane.
 
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molten_dragon said:
Yeah, but I wonder what percentage of pilots actually choose to participate in the program. It looks like it's completely volunteer, and requires the pilot to pay for the courses himself, as well as completing it on his personal time.
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Apparently a fair number of them do. My brother works for Jeppesen and he says from time to time they get a firearm accidentally sent back to them in the bags with the old airline maps.

I'm all for commercial pilots carrying firearms, by the way.
 
Yes, of course the pilot should be allowed to have a loaded pistol on the plane.

Why should he be treated differently than the passengers?
 
Tsunami said:
It seems like it would depend on the altitude. Obviously it would have very little effect while on the ground. But if it were to happen on the space shuttle while in orbit you would obviously have a slightly bigger problem.

On Mythbusters they were testing whether the explosive decompression would throw someone from the plane. That isn't the real danger. Explosive decompression sucks the air out of your lungs, sometimes damaging them in the process. And since humans need air to breathe, anyone unable to strap one of those hanging air thingies on could be dead in a matter of minutes.
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Yawn.

Bullets can't explosively depressurize a commercial jetliner cabin.

Bullets can't depressurize a commercial jetliner cabin period.

The airplane isn't a can soldered shut on the runway. No, an airplane is a friggin' seive, and the air leaking out is constantly replenished by air taken from the compressor stage of the jet engines, and that air flow is much greater than the leak rate through a teenie bullet hole.

Nope, considerations of cabin depressurization are completely irrelevant to discusssions of denying people their Second Amendment freedoms merely because of the mode of transportation they choose.

As far as I can tell, the Second Amendment doesn't allow any "tranportation mode" exceptions that can be expanded to incude air travel. Can somebody cite what part of the "shall not be infringed" clause that permits this?
 
kb2481pts said:
Why? If you allow every passenger to have firearms, then someone could easily overtake a plane.
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No matter how hard I flap my arms, I've never been able to overtake an airplane.

I fail to see how loading myself with ironmongery will improve my abilities in this regard.
 
Oftencold said:
Actually, I saw an expert speak about this on a news show recently. He basically said that the idea of explosive decompression from bullet holes is a myth. I further note that the Mythbusters showed that passengers won't get blown out even if a window is ruptured.
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Mythbusters had to use a bomb to get the effect they desired.
 
Dirty Harry said:
I do believe the proper measures have been taken to prevent a cockpit takeover. That will probably never happen again. Now the terrorists tactic of choice seems to be bringing the plane down with explosives. A gun ain't going to stop the bomb from going off.
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Good point.

In other words, there's no reason people shouldn't be able to bring their guns on the plane when they travel.
 
Dirty Harry said:
And you assume that they can.
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An untrained inexperienced youth managed to load his underwear with explosives.

Seems like Goobieman's assumption is valid.

Your assumption that they can't is both false and unsafe.
 
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