Armed Pilot News Today

An armed pilot on a commercial airliner threatened to shoot the flight’s captain if they diverted the flight for a passenger medical event, according to a statement from the US Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General and court documents.

The Obama Administration has had an institutional hostility toward the concept of arming pilots—and specifically the Federal Flight Deck Officer program—since the very beginning. The President’s fiscal year 2013 budget slashes the FFDO in half, and the Transportation Security Administration has resisted the program from the beginning. Retired U.S. Marine Lieutenant Colonel Al Aitken discusses the history and effectiveness of the Armed Pilot program established in December 2002.