Chil8go, IL

Sun- Times
Chlolgll
Mil Aril

Frld.,

0 455,425
NOV 16, 2001

uns
If H.S. approves,
Tasers will be in
cockpit lockboxes
By DAVE CARPENTER

In the latest move to improve
safety in the skies, United Airlines
on Thursday became the first major carrier to announce plans to in-

stall stun guns in the cockpits of all
its planes.
United also said it is starting a
special training program for flight
attendants, aimed at both self-protection and assisting passengers.
Both measures are flubject to
federal government approval.
Pending that, the nation's second-biggest carrier said it will soon

start installing advanced Taser
stun guns in electronically coded
lockboxes in all planes, enabling
pilots to fend off hijacking attempts~

The weapons fire an electronic
charge that disables an .attacker for
five fleconds or more, allowing time
for them to he restrained. Pilots
will be trained in how to use the
devices.
"United and its 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 the Elk
Grove Township carrier.
United declined to discuss
Elpecifics of the new training pro~
gram for flight attendants, indicating that could compromise its effectiveness.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist at- ,
tacks, airlines have been taking security matters into their' own
hands. Most have been reinforcing
cockpit doors with iron bars.

TANI'EN MAURY 18l00Ma.EflG NF.WS

Andy Plews, United's director of media relations, holds a stun device made by Ja~er Intarnatkmal. The weapons
fire a charge that disables an attacker- for fiye seconds or more, aHowlng time for them to be restrained.

Among other measures, Austrian
Airlines put armed sky marshals
on board all its flights to and from
North America, and carriers have

,

even considered arming pilots with prohibiting any deadly or dangerhandguns.
ous weapon on scheduled passenThe Federal Aviation Adminis- ger flights. Congres!'\, which has
tration has been reviewing its rule .
Turn to Page 68

"--.,

nr~ited
Con"lnued from Page 65
been working to tighten airline se·
curity since the attacks, also could
override it.
Other airlines besides United
also have been considering stun
guns. Mesa Air Group, which operates America West Express and US
Airways Express, announced last
month it planned to train its pilots
to use them, and the manufacturer
of Tasers, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based
Taser International Inc., has held
discussions with several carriers.
Using a laser sight, the Taser
shoots a pair of quarter·inch darts
trailing wires into the attacker. A

five-second, 26-watt shot of elec~
tricity contracts the muscles and
overwhelms the central nervous
system, preventing any coordinated
action. The weapons can take down
a hijacker from 21 feet away, according to the manufacturer.
United pilot Herb Hunter, a
spokesman for the Air Line Pilots
Association, endorsed the stun gun
plan as "a good first step."
"We have supported a threepronged approach: Keep the bad
guys off the jets (through tightened
security), strengthen and eventually replace the cockpit doors, and
put defensive systems for pilots in
the cockpit," Hunter said.
"Is this a panacea? No. But it's
certainly a move in the right direction, and we support it."

AP