'Like, What Do We Do With The Guns?'

Now that our nation's 44 (four of the original class of 48 flunked out, for reasons we're not allowed to know) licensed FFDOs (Federal Flight Deck Officers) have flown nearly 300 shooting-free flights since their matriculation, some members of the House think it's time for some feedback. The next class is set to start in July, and it would be nice, they figure, if any problems get addressed before then.

In the House Transportation Aviation Subcommittee Thursday, several pilots brought their ideas forward. The proceedings haven't been published, but a laundry list of potential topics included a few that should have been thought of, earlier.

• The federally-owned and -issued handguns must be carried in a separate lockbox, to be opened only in the cabin. Pilots are worried that the sheer size of the lockboxes makes their status as FFDOs obvious.
• Cargo pilots can't be FFDOs; they'd like to be, and they often carry sensitive cargo; and they often don't have the same screening and backup at their airports that's available with PAX.
• When the FFDOs are off-duty, or deadheading, the TSA requires their weapons to be carried in the cargo compartment of the airplane. That dramatically increases the probability that the guns will be stolen (ask UPS and FedEx); it also prevents these valuable and expensive specialists (FFDOs) from being useful, in the event that their hard-won services are needed.
• The TSA simply doesn't trust pilots. The House poop sheet on the hearings says, "The Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act allows the TSA to conduct psychological testing of FFDO candidates to ensure that they are fit for duty. There is concern among pilots that the tests are excessive and designed to fail a large number of candidates."
• There aren't enough of the TSA's pet training facilities to accommodate all the pilots who need to use them. Although that bottleneck has been long-recognized, the TSA claims that only their pet facilities are up to the task; the hundreds of otherwise-qualified facilities, where law enforcement (including state and federal officers) are trained, are just not good enough -- or perhaps they're too plentiful.
• FFDOs operate on domestic flights only. The TSA apparently believes that terrorists won't strike on international flights.

There were to have been two panels, the first of which was set up to be monopolized by just one man, Mr. Stephen McHale, the TSA's Deputy Administrator. The second panel's slated witnesses are Captain Duane Woerth, the President of Airline Pilots Association, International; Dan Graves, Secretary-Treasurer, Local 1224, International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Steve Alterman, the President of the Cargo Airline Association; and Owen "Buzz" Mills, who is the President and Chief Executive Officer of one of the nation's premier private training facilities, Gunsite Academy, Inc., of Paulden (AZ).

We wish them good luck.

FMI: www.house.gov/transportation; www.tsa.gov