Air Marshalls on Fewer Than 1% of All Flights

Posted on March 25, 2008 by Chris Guy

CNN:

Of the 28,000 commercial airline flights that take to the skies on an average day in the United States, fewer than 1 percent are protected by on-board, armed federal air marshals, a nationwide CNN investigation has found.

………

One pilot who crisscrosses the country and flies internationally told CNN he hasn’t seen an air marshal on board one of his flights in six months. A federal law enforcement officer, who is not affiliated with the air marshal service and who travels in and out of Washington every week, said he has gone for months without seeing a marshal on board.

Yet, another pilot, who wanted to protect his identity because he carries a weapon in the cockpit, said he regularly flies in and out of New York’s airports and almost never encounters an air marshal.

LiebermanThe Senate Committee on Homeland Securty and Governmental Affairs has jurisdiction over the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Transportation Security Administration. That committee is chaired by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) (pictured), who in addition to criss-crossing the country correcting Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) during his senior moments, has endorsed the committee’s Ranking Member, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), for re-election this fall. He was also one of the first to advocate for the creation of a Department of Homeland Security in the first place. So, he basically owns this problem as much as anyone.

In 2006, voters went to the polls to put the Democrats back in charge on capitol hill so that the executive branch of the federal government might actually be held accountable. Much has been made about the sub-par performance of the TSA’s security screeners at airports throughout the USA…… now this.

Republicans better step in. Since Chairman Lieberman is auditioning to be McBush’s runningmate this fall, this will be one more issue that the Democratic nominee for President will be able to hit them on.

Filed under: National Politics

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5 Responses to “Air Marshalls on Fewer Than 1% of All Flights”

  1. Veronica Corningstone, on March 25th, 2008 at 12:19 pm Said:

    Why are the American taxpayers not up in arms that McCain is essentially making us pay for his PR tour?

    Active duty service people will tell you they hate these junkets- why be shot for a politician’s photo op?

    This whole trip was designed to make McCain look Presidential. It only served to show that he has very little grasp on the issues of the region, and merely offers more knee-jerk support for a war with no offer of constructive solutions to bring Americans home.

  2. Think LOGICALLY, on March 25th, 2008 at 12:49 pm Said:

    I say we should ARM ALL THE PILOTS! If there’s not enough Air Marshalls to go around, it’s obvious that there’s enough pilots - or who’d be driving the plane?

    And, ya know, arming the pilots would be 100% safe. It’s not like a pilot would take his weapon out of its holster in the middle of the flight while the plane was actually IN THE AIR and “accidentally discharge” it!

    Huh? One just did?

    Oh.

    Nevermind.

  3. Jeff, on March 25th, 2008 at 6:01 pm Said:

    I encourage all your readers to check out TSA’s Evolution of Security Blog where they clear up the myths about Air Marshals: http://www.tsa.gov/blog

  4. CTone, on March 28th, 2008 at 1:46 pm Said:

    From what I’m hearing, the pilot that blasted his plane did so because of the unsound policies by the TSA, who as we all know have much disdain for armed pilots.

    Take a looksee at the holster they are supposed to wear and tell me how a negligent discharge only happened now - http://www.crimefilenews.com/2008/03/gun-accident-in-airliner-cockpit-was.html

  5. TSA or T&A? « Fred2Blue, on March 28th, 2008 at 2:42 pm Said:

    [...] Air Marshalls on Fewer Than 1% of All Flights [...]

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