Pilots permitted to take handguns on US flights

Commercial pilots in the US were given a choice yesterday over whether or not to carry a gun in the cockpit.

After months of debate, a provision allowing pilots to carry guns on the flight deck was included in the Homeland Security Act, signed into law by President George Bush last night. The bill, which creates a department responsible for protecting the US against terrorism, gives the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) 90 days to begin arming pilots. The measure is not compulsory and the Allied Pilots Association, which pushed for the provision, believes that just under half of America's 75,000 pilots will arm themselves.

The airlines opposed the measure because they feared guns would go off accidentally at 37,000ft with dire consequences. The TSA first has to decide which guns are suitable for aircraft and will then set up weapons training for pilots.