Miami, FL
HSl'8ld
MJllml

Mil Aru

Friday

0338,880
NOV 16. 2001

111111111111111111111111111111111111111

[Jm[lraPRmJLlP~/I:::

Airlines planning
to put stun guns in cockpits"
i"

BY DAVE CARPENTER
Associated Press

CHICAGO - In the latest
steps to improve safety in the
skies, United Airlines on
Thursday became the first
major U.S. carrier to say it will
arm its pilots with stun guns.
United also said it is starting
a special training program for
flight attendants, aimed at both
self-protection and assisting
passengers.
Both measures are subject to
federal government approval
The nation's second-biggest
carrier said it is prepared to
start installing advanced stun
guns in electronically coded
lockboxes in the cockpits of its
more than 500 planes, enabling
pilots to fend off hijacking
attempts.
The weapons fire an electronic charge that disables an
attacker for five seconds or
more, allowing time for them to
be restrained. Pilots will be
trained in how to use the
devices, called Tcisers. ,
"United an ifs pilots
believe Tasers are an important
addition to enhanced cockpit
security. Tasers will incapacitate an attacker without endangering the airplane," said
Andrew Studdert, chief operating officer and executive vice
president of United, based in
Elk Grove Village, Ill.
New training for flight attendants will include self-defense
and other methods intended to
help passengers and to improve
cabin safety. United declined to
discuss specifics, saying that
coule! compromise the pro------~

Ahijack-resistant plane?

,N'

'C"~~,

Afederal task fO~S studying ways to engineer planes that would foil hijackers if they"
evade airport secutjly. ilir marshals and reillforced cockpit doors are already In use "'.
on manyjetliners.. '. ",
., ;'AI~llIiirsilarf:'
<'): '

"

.... ' '.Plllirt.jljotlHlilii.'~'JJli\'s.YJk~~1
., useinHltleJ9fo.#t()~ro(
few were stil.! aCliVe before

lJinapk1ngs;a;' •
pfi!JlaltaCks.:~

lf~~~P:~J::-- ~~~&rejneJi9~~~~i~~~i:

assume hijackers could be'suickfal; previous-:::!\.
strategy was.to negotiate wil~h1iackers.safely '1 '
land plane.
,,,"
\'

Collision-avoiding Rlivigation system'?.'
• Currelll aviation philosophy: Human pilot should"
be able to override plane's autopilot system.
• Possible system: Airplane could override pilot's,
commands if the plane is In imminent danger of
collision.
.

Cockpit door
Door originally designed to easily
break from the frame, preventing
pilots from becoming trapped.
They're fiimsy and open with a
universal key, ,
.
Reinfilrced door could withstand
bullets, knives, physical intrusion and
possiblY an exposion. The Israeli state
airline, EI AI, has fortified [S door and
forbids pikJts from leavingthe cockpit.

a

cI
Stun guns
in cockpits

nemote control

~"

• In case of on-board
')")"" ,"
emergency, plane
))) )
' . ' ., '
could use wireless~,
")))
c'
data connection as '~·1·''.
l <..<..t. L
,
part ofa system,
, ',(<-~
could be remotely
~
'-'
controlled,

,

SOURCE; U.S. Federal Aviation Commission, AP, airline industry and government sources
MAA111601

gram's effectiveness.
Airlines have been shoring
up security since the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks - sometimes
on government orders but
often on their own.
Most. have strengthened
cockpit doors well in advance
of the Department of Transportation's Dec. 31 deadline.
United and others have done so
with iron bars, while JetBlue
Airways lined the fortified
cockpit doors of its jets with

KRT. THE HERALD"

Kevlar - the material inside Pilots Association, endorsed
bulletproof vests.
the stun-gun plan as "a good
) •
Mesa Air Group, which fIrst step."
"We have supported a thn~e_j
operates America West
Express and US Airways pronged approach: Keep th~
Express, said last month that its bad guys off the jets [through
pilots would use stun guns. tightened security], strengthc'p.
Several other carriers have held and eventually replace th~;
discussions with Taser Interna-· cockpit doors and put defen:~
tional Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz., sive,systems for pilots in the:'
the manufacturer of the stun cockpit," Hunter said.
'
guns.
"Is this a panacea? No. Bqt.
United pilot Herb Hunter, a it's certainly a moveln the.ri~lM~:
spokesman for the Air Line direction, and we support it: