Gay Terrorists Today??? READ THIS!

[mar]

I wasn't responding to Avbug

My response wasn't focused directly at Avbug--it only happened to appear right after his--I was actually addressing the several posts that seemed to justify carrying guns in case you encounter strange behavior.

PilotoHalcon, on the other hand, I have a direct comment for you: I don't think their behavior is normal--it's really frickin' weird--but this is a big country boys, with lots of weirdos in it.

What I would question is how quick we are to fall back into a hostile position when confronted with peculiar behavior.

Now you can go on some rant about how we were attacked and how we should be doing more profiling and how pilots should be packing heat and how we need a national passenger database and how we need retinal scanners at the gate....

...and I won't disagree with any of it.

But if my only repsonse to weird behavior was a violent thought then I'd start to worry about myself.

 

[avbug]

Falling back to a practical point of view, we know that the crew's function is not to exit the flight deck to deal with a disturbance or problem; least of all to control it by force. Therefore, the issue of crews carrying firearms has no bearing or relation to a passenger disturbance in back. The firearm only becomes an issue if the cockpit door is breached.

While a man shaving does seem a foolish reason to divert, we must consider the circumstances. Particularly on that date, the crew hears of a disturbance, and elects to deal with it immediately by making a safe, conservative decision. Best case, they get to assistance faster and get the airplane on the ground where it can't be used for harm. Worst case, passengers get inconvenienced and the company pays a little extra. Cheap insurance, considering the possibilities...especially on that date.

I think it's important to leave such events out of the issue of carrying weapons; apples and oranges. Those who believe that a crew would respond with violence are making the assumption that the crew will exit the cockpit in order to deal with a disturbance. If a crew elects to do this, they're bloody stupid, but save a newhire, I believe most folks have more common sense. There was a case just shortly after 09/11 when a first officer exited the cockpit with a crash axe...after a rogue beverage cart bumped the cabin door. Folks like that don't deserve a water pistol, but I really don't think that's going to be an issue when the program is implemented.

 

[Purple Haze]

Re: I wasn't responding to Avbug

I don't think their behavior is normal--it's really frickin' weird--but this is a big country boys, with lots of weirdos in it.

What I would question is how quick we are to fall back into a hostile position when confronted with peculiar behavior.

Sadly, our nation has so bought-into "political-correctness" that we cannot profile the comparatively small group of people most likely to engage in terrorist acts. This forces us into the position of taking action solely on the basis of behavior.

It saddens me that many great americans of middle eastern descent are now looked upon with suspicion and prejudice. However, I think we are foolish and naive to cast the same critical eye on our entire population when we already know who wants to kill us.

I agree about this not being a pilot arming issue. Until the cockpit door is breached, the pilots are not involved, no matter how many naked men squeeze into the lav.
Good job, NWA.