Plan to arm pilots is taking off By Alan Levin, USA TODAY WASHINGTON =97 Since the Senate voted overwhelmingly last month to arm up to= =20 85,000 airline pilots, carriers and safety advocates have raised numerous=20 concerns about cost, security and safety. But so far, no one appears to be= =20 listening. Despite renewed criticism from airline executives and private worries from= =20 some government officials, the measure seems certain to become law. The=20 politics of guns has overwhelmed the slower-moving aviation world,=20 according to officials, lobbyists and Capitol Hill insiders. Vigorous=20 lobbying by pilots and gun rights groups, who say concerns about the=20 proposal have been overblown, eroded most objections from Congress.=20 Proposals to make airline pilots eligible to carry guns passed the House of= =20 Representatives in July and the Senate in September. Groups such as the=20 National Rifle Association urged lawmakers to vote for the measure, and few= =20 wanted to oppose it in an election year. Even some liberal lawmakers who=20 generally favor gun control embraced the idea. But the House and Senate=20 versions, which must be merged before being sent to the president, do not=20 specify how pilots would be trained, how weapons would be transported=20 between flights or how the measure would be paid for. Only a small fraction of the 5,000 to 10,000 airline pilots who fly each=20 day are expected to volunteer to carry a gun. The Bush administration=20 initially opposed arming pilots, but that position weakened under intense=20 lobbying. Transportation Security Administration acting head James Loy says= =20 he will follow Congress' wishes, though he would prefer to begin with a=20 small test program instead of allowing all pilots to participate. Airlines,= =20 which were slow to mobilize against the measure, are starting to speak out.= =20 Officials say the House and Senate proposals do not consider potential=20 problems, from how pilots can safely carry weapons in secure airport=20 terminals to what might happen if a stray shot damages aircraft=20 electronics. "There's so many unknowns," says Dave Barger, president of=20 JetBlue airline. "I don't think the legislation has really been thought=20 out." Aviation safety advocates say giving pilots the added responsibility= =20 for security could threaten safety by disrupting them from their normal=20 routines. "We've trained these pilots so carefully, and we've engrained in= =20 them that predictable routine makes it safe," says Susan Coughlin, a former= =20 member of the National Transportation Safety Board who is president of the= =20 Aviation Safety Alliance. "Let's let them do that and let law enforcement=20 do the rest." Coughlin and other former NTSB members plan to issue a letter criticizing=20 the proposal. Loy convened a task force, which included officials from the= =20 FBI, Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, to=20 study the proposal this past summer. It recommended against giving guns to= =20 pilots. "We have some very serious concerns" about the legislation, Loy=20 said last week. "I want to make sure there is a walk-before-we-run=20 mentality." Loy told senators this month that if pilots are armed, they=20 should receive individual lockboxes in which to store the weapons while not= =20 in the cockpit. The lockboxes would minimize the chances of accidental=20 discharge and theft. In a letter to senators, he identified other issues:=20 Will cockpits need to be modified to create storage areas for weapons? How= =20 will the government respond if foreign nations want to arm their pilots?=20 How will the program be funded? That last question could prove tricky for=20 the TSA, which has said it cannot meet congressionally mandated security=20 deadlines without additional funding. Estimates of the costs vary. Loy=20 projected up to $900 million in initial costs followed by $250 million per= =20 year. The Air Line Pilots Association, the nation's largest pilots union=20 and a proponent of arming flight crews, estimated it would cost no more=20 than $100 million initially, and probably far less. Steve Luckey, a retired= =20 747 captain who heads the union's security committee, concedes that many=20 issues need to be resolved before pilots can be armed. But he says they can= =20 be easily overcome. "I strongly believe that if we have this ability, the=20 odds of a recurrence of something like Sept. 11 is greatly diminished," he= =20 says. Luckey says he has developed the outlines for a training program and=20 anticipates rigorous standards for pilots seeking guns. "I don't think you= =20 can have any kind of cavalier attitude about handing out lethal force to=20 people," he says. "That's why I'm on the quality bandwagon, not quantity."= =20 The gun legislation is part of a larger bill that would create a department= =20 of homeland security. That bill is deadlocked in the Senate. The airlines=20 hope Congress will adopt a test program before opening the program to every= =20 pilot. "It's dangerous and potentially deadly public policy to enact this=20 proposal in an information vacuum," says Michael Wascom, spokesman for the= =20 airline trade group Air Transport Association. But there appear to be few=20 allies for such a move on Capitol Hill. Proponents say it's time the=20 airlines gave up. "This train has left the station," NRA Chief Executive=20 Officer Wayne LaPierre says. "They need to get on board, as opposed to=20 trying to figure out how to sabotage an issue that has already been= decided." 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