For Immediate Release:                                                                                 
Contact: Diana Banister        
May 13, 2004                                                                                      
Shirley & Banister Public Affairs
(800)536-5920/(703)739-5920

PILOTS CONCERNED BY HOMELAND SECURITY EFFORT TO
SUBVERT NEW COCKPIT SECURITY BILL

WASHINGTON  -- The Airline Pilots Security Alliance today expressed serious concern about a high-ranking Homeland Security official’s attempts to defeat legislation aimed at strengthening the program to arm airline pilots.  An article published in The Hill, a congressional newspaper, indicates Thomas D. Quinn, Director of the Federal Air Marshal Service, last month wrote a memo to Michael Garcia, Assistant Secretary, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Michael Dougherty, ICE Operations Director, calling for a “strong, coordinated effort” to defeat the Cockpit Technical Corrections and Improvements Act.  The bill, S.2268 / HR4126, was introduced April 1, by Senators Jim Bunning (R-KY), Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Conrad Burns (R-MT), and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) in the House.

“It is extremely disconcerting that the Director of the Federal Air Marshal Service is attempting to garner support within individual agencies of the Homeland Security Department to defeat a bipartisan airline security bill,” said Captain David Mackett, President of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance.  “What possible motive could he have?  The Cockpit Technical Corrections Act simply returns the Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program to the robust aviation security program Congress originally sought to create.

“The thought of individual federal officials and agencies actively working against the legislative process has serious ethical implications.  The Department of Homeland Security is supposed to act at the direction of Congress, not the other way around.

“Mr. Quinn’s memo confirms biases against the FFDO program within the Homeland Security Department that have existed since before the program’s inception.  These biases are precisely what spurred members of Congress to reach across party lines and introduce this new bill.  For whatever reason, it is clear Mr. Quinn and many of his former colleagues at the TSA are intent on stonewalling implementation of the FFDO program that Congress, professional pilots and the American public want.  It’s completely inconsistent with the mission of a federal official charged with protecting the flying public.”  

Quinn’s memo asserts the bill is flawed because it does not provide for training pilots in arrest procedures, interview techniques, search and seizure and courtroom preparation.  But APSA says the bill gives pilots no authority outside of an airliner, except to transport firearms safely, and that pilots are not trained in the areas that concern Mr. Quinn because they do not perform them.  “Mr. Quinn’s objections are without merit,” Mackett said.  “When was the last time you heard of an airline pilot executing a search warrant?” 

Since Congress first authorized the FFDO program more than two years ago, the TSA has armed only 2% of the 115,000 eligible pilots.  The Cockpit Security Technical Corrections and Improvement Act will remove the barriers added by the TSA, and allow pilots to be armed more efficiently in order to protect the flying public from the threat of a terrorist attack.

APSA is an aviation security working group, formed by airline pilots from every major airline in the U.S., after September 11, 2001.  APSA works to shape public opinion and policy by educating other pilots and the general public and working with federal officials and policy makers.  APSA has had a significant influence on our nation's approach to airline security and has briefed numerous White House, DOT, DOJ, FAA and Congressional officials. 

For more information or to schedule an interview with David Mackett,
please call Diana Banister at (703)739-5920