First 44 airline pilots to carry guns GLYNCO, Ga. (AP) =97 There is a minuscule chance, beginning Sunday, that a= =20 pilot on a commercial flight may be carrying a gun. Some air travelers say= =20 even those odds are cause for worry. Others say they will feel safer if=20 there's an armed pilot on board. Saturday was graduation day for the=20 first 44 pilots in a course at a federal law enforcement training center.=20 Additional pilots will complete their training in the weeks to come =97=20 meaning a gradual increase in the number of gun-toting pilots in airliner=20 cockpits. The pilots went through a week of classes, tests, drills and=20 target practice required before they could be sworn in as federal flight=20 deck officers. The designation is required for a pilot to carry a=20 pistol. Cafe owner Peter Fragale of Jacksonville, Fla., thinks arming=20 pilots is a good idea. "They make me feel better," he said as he waited at= =20 Jacksonville International Airport for a flight to Atlanta. "They should=20 all have guns," Fragale said. "It's that last layer, that last-resort=20 layer, in case the terrorists get through all this security," he said,=20 gesturing toward uniformed federal screeners. "And they will." Art teacher= =20 Mary Ellen Binz, returning to Lake Mills, Wis., said putting guns in the=20 hands of pilots makes her nervous. "It'll get in the hands of the wrong person," she said. "I wonder how=20 pilots feel about it?" Polls last year showed more than 70% of pilots favored the right to be=20 armed. After the hijackings on Sept. 11, 2001, pilots' unions lobbied for=20 permission to carry guns in the cockpit. Opposing the idea were the White=20 House and the airlines. "I need to defend myself and my aircraft," a=20 female pilot said Thursday during a break from practicing how to disarm a=20 terrorist in close quarters. Participants in the course were not allowed to= =20 give their names or airlines. Graduates are required to tell their=20 employers that they have been certified to carry a gun 24 hours after they= =20 finish training. They do not have to take a weapon with them every time=20 they fly, but they do have to inform airlines and the flight crew when they= =20 do. Passengers are not supposed to know if a pilot is armed. More pilots=20 are to be trained this summer, though the size of the group is=20 uncertain. Capt. Fred Bates, an American Airlines pilot who helped put the= =20 program in place, said as many as one in three U.S. pilots =97 about 30,000= =97=20 could be carrying weapons on the flight deck in five years. Not all pilots= =20 who want to carry guns will be able to. They have to volunteer for the=20 program, pass background checks and psychological tests and make it through= =20 a week of rigorous drills. "This is brutal," a trainee, a male pilot, said after fighting off another= =20 pilot pretending to be a terrorist. The pilot trainees, pitted against one another, thrashed and grunted with=20 dummy pistols in a padded room. Instructors yelled out rapid-fire orders on= =20 how to fight attackers: "Get your hands on there, lower your center!" Some= =20 pilots expressed little interest in the program. A pilot for Midway=20 Airlines, who had just flown into Washington, said he viewed the training=20 more as a way to make the public feel safer rather than actually making it= =20 tougher for attackers to take over a plane. Pilots are not pleased about=20 restrictions on carrying their government-issued .40-caliber semiautomatic= =20 pistols. When pilots go through the airport to their plane, the guns must= =20 be in a locked case enclosed in a nondescript bag. Pilots can wear the gun= =20 in a holster while they are in the cockpit, but if they leave =97 to use the= =20 bathroom, for example =97 they must stow the weapon in a lockbox in the= cockpit. Pilots say they would like to be able to have the gun in a holster when=20 they walk through the airport. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.pscutt.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************