Onboard security is NOT the way forward. Giving somebody on an aircraft a weapon is a sure way to cause problems.
Crew will constantly be on edge not knowing if there is a gun on their flight. There is no failsafe recruitment programme that can guarantee that everyone employed as a sky marshall will be in sound mind and body all of the time! Therefore making sure that they cannot be overpowered and lose their weapon or use the weapon for a reason where it is not required.
Was there not recently an episode where somebody was shot at a US airport (and this person was found to be completely law abiding) and in the UK the S.American gentleman shot in a tube station (again completely law abiding). These things happened due to hightened sensitivity and therefore people being a little "trigger happy". These were supposed to be highly trained people and look what happend- is there anyone willing to guarantee this wont happen on aircraft?
I certainly do not want to work on board an aircraft where somebody has so much power and is allowed to remain anonymous and I do not wish to be a passenger.
Well, actually, at least in the US, there is never anyone on board the aircraft with a weapon were the flight crew do not only know about who it is, the flight crew usually meets and talks with the person, and they always know the seat in which that passenger is seated. Additionally, to the best of their ability, the crew advises all
other armed passengers aboard, where everyone with a weapon is seated. For some time now, the US has had a Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program, where a flight crewmember, on his own time and at his own expense, receives training from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in New Mexico under contract with the US Transportation Security Administration on how to defend his/her aircraft in the event of an attempted hijacking. There is a lot of information available, but I won’t go into any of it here, for obvious reasons – however, suffice it to say that believing “on board” security won’t work, is like talking about the inadvisability of sending a man to the moon. As the current saying goes, “been there – done that;”
past tense, DONE that.
Oh, and about that “law abiding gentleman” who was shot at a US airport … that person was acting more than a little suspicious throughout the boarding process. He got quite belligerent. He wouldn’t take his seat. He was extremely vocal, bordering on violent. After many attempts to calm him down (unsuccessfully, by the way) he grabbed his carry on bag, placed his hand inside the bag, got out of his seat and began running forward toward the cockpit, yelling something in a language other than English. A Federal Air Marshal on board identified himself, ordered the man to stop, but he kept running toward the front with his hand inside his carry-on bag. According to witnesses, when the man stopped at the front of the aircraft, turned, and made motions like he was hurriedly trying to either pull something from inside the bag or pull something inside the bag, the Marshal shot him. Unfortunately, later it was determined that this passenger had been on medication and had refused to take it that day. Apparently he was panicked about flying and changed his mind, wanting off the airplane. No one knows what he was reaching for inside his bag. It was an unfortunate circumstance – and I’m sure the Marshal felt terrible about the whole thing. But, had that been an attempted bombing, and the Marshal took no action and a bomb
had been detonated at the front entry door, that Marshal would have been crucified for NOT shooting him – and everyone acknowledges that fact. Law enforcement officers are hired, they are paid, and they are trained to fire their weapons when necessary. I do not understand when an officer
does use his weapon and someone dies, some people find it necessary to call that officer “trigger happy.” Most officers are not trained for, nor would they necessarily be interested in, shooting the gun out of the bad guys hand. The real world does not operate like television or the movies. They don’t refer to it as deadly force for grins.