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U.S. Expands Use of Air Marshals
Sat Jun 15, 6:23 AM ET
By JONATHAN D. SALANT, Associated
Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - When the Bush administration
denounced the idea of guns for pilots, it said trained air
marshals would be able to handle terrorists on planes.
Trouble is, there are not enough marshals to cover every commercial
flight, and some lawmakers say there aren't even enough armed officers
to protect passengers on the long-range trips considered most likely to
be targeted by terrorists.
The exact number of marshals remains classified, but proponents of
arming pilots say there should be guns in the cockpit, no matter what.
Transportation Security Administration chief John Magaw said the
marshals, who before Sept. 11 flew only on international flights, are
now on domestic routes as well.
Sen. Conrad Burns (
news,
bio,
voting record), R-Mont., said he believes there are about a thousand
air marshals. That would be considerably more than the pre-Sept. 11
level, believed to be less than 50. But there are 33,000 to 35,000
commercial flights a day to protect, according to the Federal Aviation
Administration (
news -
web sites).
"Your chances of having an air marshal on your flight are not as good
as winning some of the lotteries," said Paul Hudson, executive director
of the Aviation Consumer Action Project, an advocacy group.
The administration's hard line against guns in the cockpits probably
dampened prospects for legislation to allow them. Transportation
Department officials are still deciding whether to equip pilots and
flight attendants with non-lethal weapons like stun guns.
Air marshals, the Transportation Department's
soldiers in the war on terrorism, never fly alone and don't
identify themselves to anyone but the pilot. They undergo
the same kind of firearms training as the Army's Special Forces.
The aviation security bill enacted last fall required marshals to be
stationed on the most high-risk flights, including nonstop,
cross-country routes like those flown by the four planes that were
hijacked Sept. 11.
Despite the effort to recruit and train marshals, however, the number
now flying "doesn't currently meet my idea of what is necessary," said
Sen. Barbara Boxer (
news,
bio,
voting record), D-Calif., the lawmaker who put that provision into
the law.
Even on flights with air marshals aboard, there may not be enough of
them to stop a terrorist attack, said Rep. John Mica (
news,
bio,
voting record), R-Fla., chairman of the House aviation subcommittee.
"Every scenario we know of has had a minimum of four terrorists,"
Mica said. "If you had two air marshals against four or more hijackers,
I just don't believe the odds are fair."
Transportation Department spokesman Chet Lunner said that air
marshals, combined with other armed federal agents on airplanes,
reinforced cockpits and other security measures, have "raised aviation
security to unprecedented levels. We're confident that the system is
quite strong and getting stronger every day."
Would-be air marshals are put through a 14-week training program,
including the highest level of firearms training of any federal law
enforcement officers, said Tom Quinn, director of the Federal Air
Marshal Service. They have to be recertified every three months.
They also are trained not to respond to every disturbance on board,
lest terrorists first stage a distraction to identify air marshals on
board.
"These marshals are trained not only in
the use of weapons, but all the things that build up to that,"
Magaw said. "They will do whatever they have to do, to
the point of giving up their own lives to make sure the cockpit
remains secure."
Advocates of guns for pilots argue they would provide an additional
measure of security, no matter how many air marshals are on board.
"Everybody understood from the beginning that there would not be
enough air marshals to be on every flight," said John Mazor, a spokesman
for the Air Line Pilots Association (
news -
web sites). "They're there as much for their deterrence value as
they are to be called into action.
"The same theory is part of our rationale for firearms in the
cockpit," he said. "Having an unknown number of pilots armed in the
cockpit provides another level of deterrence as well as an ability to
deal with an actual hijacking attempt."
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On the Net:
Transportation Security Administration:
http://www.tsa.dot.gov |
