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Airline Pilots' Security
Alliance Addresses September 12, 2002 Contact Information: Capt. Tracy W. Price – Chairman Capt. Marc Feigenblatt – Vice Chairman SURFACE TO AIR MISSILES READY TO DESTROY
AIRLINERS On the one year anniversary of the September
11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the U.S. government aimed surface to air missiles at
the skies over Washington D.C. and launched armed fighters to patrol the skies
over our largest cities. The decision to "defend" our citizens in this
manner speaks volumes about the administration’s confidence in their progress
toward improving airline security after a full years effort. APSA Chairman, Capt. Tracy Price commented on
this latest policy of the administration. "The administration policy to
destroy a hijacked airliner while denying the pilots firearms with which to
defend the airliner needs a closer look. Missiles can only be used to destroy an
airliner that has been hijacked by terrorists and all on board will most
certainly die. The concept of arming airline pilots with firearms to prevent or
stop a hijacking is viewed by some as an extreme and intrusive measure, but we
think they’ve got it exactly backwards. The policy of sacrificing a
civilian airliner with innocent Americans on board to keep terrorists from using
it as a weapon, while at the same time refusing to allow the pilots an
opportunity to offer a last resort, final line of defense is the extremist view
that should be ridiculed and dismissed." Price continued, "Finally, we need to look
at what motivates terrorists. Terrorists want to strike fear into our hearts by
attacking us in unthinkable ways. They expect to die in the process. It is hard
to imagine a more enticing scenario to a terrorist group than the prospect of
forcing the United States to unceremoniously kill its own innocent citizens.
Conversely, it would be nearly impossible to gain control of an airliner with
armed pilots locked behind a reinforced cockpit door. Such an attack will
almost certainly fail and thus we have deterred the terrorist attack before it
was ever attempted. Arming pilots with firearms promises deterrence and makes
the successful execution of the hijacking nearly impossible; promising to
shoot down a hijacked airliner offers a huge return to the terrorist groups and
does nothing to make the hijacking itself any more difficult." Price concluded, "The American people and
their Congressional representatives survey this crazy landscape and speak with a
loud and clear voice: ‘Arm our pilots. They have to stay in control of our
airplanes or we all are in peril.’ What we are doing is lunacy and we must
regain our sense of clarity before we are attacked again." APSA Web Site: http://www.secure-skies.org
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