Bahrain Lad,
Atleast in the USA I have never heard of a skymarshal being deployed solo. They are always part of a team the size of which can vary as does their placement. They don't all need to be within site of the cockpit door. I am sure you can imagine some sort of pager arrangement...
Here is an interesting question for all the naysayers. Properly used Guns have been on airplanes since the beginning of time. The Skymarshals have been in the USA since mid 70s, flight deck crew members were required to be armed on any flight carrying the US mail untill well into the 70s, pilots were permitted to carry guns untill 1987 and they still carry guns in the cockpit of military transports. Many other countries have skymarshals as well and guns in the cockpit.
Can anyone point to ANY problem that has occured as a result of an armed airmarshal or pilot in that whole time? I can point to a couple of saves by them. But if they are such a disaster surely there must have been a problem. Point to one please! Just one! Come on, with all this vitriolic opposition, someone must have found a case where it went wrong by now... IF not then a large body of evidence is just being ignored.
Seams like a British problem to me... (Okay, that last crack was a little gratuitious, but why is it that the brit pilots are having such troubles with their government that are not shared by the rest of the world?)
Okay, so you are conceding that no pilot or skymarshal ran amok with their guns and depressurized an aircraft (many carrying high velocity jacketed rounds), How about a terrorist taking the guns from these people? Comeon, the gauntlet is laid out down for you!
Cheers
Wino