Secure cockpit doors?

-> -----Original Message----- -> From: owner-classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org -> [mailto:owner-classiccmp@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Bob Shannon -> Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2001 12:00 PM -> To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org -> Subject: Re: Secure cockpit doors? -> -> -> As a pilot... -> -> Given the responsibility the pilot carries, I think the pilot -> should be armed. Might as well say bye to everyone when the plane leaves as if anyone has a firearm on an aircraft the results could be worse than if the plane was hijacked (normal hijack, not like these last ones). Now to arm the aircrew with a stungun would create another "civil rights" load of crap. Some sort of non-intrusive, non-harmful, diabling gas is about the only viable thing and it has to be where the front crew is isolated from it (obviously). Better to have a full load of passengers sleeping off some sort of gas than to have a plane used to smash into a building. I'm also surprised that the rear crew (attendants and off duty flight crew) don't have a duress alarm on their body that can be tripped easily (but not accidentally) to signal the secured crew that something is wrong, along with a camera system that they can view the passenger areas to see what may be happening. I've pulled late night guardhouse duty at the main gate of (the now closed) Chanute AFB in IL and we had a duress trigger on our belt that if tripped notified the main desk and a coded message was radioed to the patrols over the radio without notifying anyone able to receive it that something was going on. The y also had a radio call back system that included a code word each day that if it was included in the reply it would verify the duress situation, as well as if no response was recieved. Everyone thinks the bushes around entry gates are there purely for looks and landscape - they make nice barricades for the other patrols to observe and snipe from in the event that becomes necessary.