What the hell is happening to aviation? Blissfully unaware of the FAA allowing firearms on the flight deck I read a story this week about the use, or threatened use, of a loaded gun during normal operations (I say normal in the sense there was no hijack taking place or engines burning). Think about that for a second! In Europe we created a regulated means of support for pilots after one individual decided to change the lives of everyone on board the aircraft he was in control of. Pilot support programmes are in place to, hopefully, govern against a repeat event where the aircraft itself could be used as a means to an end. And in America? They’re letting pilots carry guns on the flight deck. I would say welcome to MAGA-America but this started way before that nonsense.

Apparently under rules governing US flights, post 9/11, the Air Marshal on board can be a member of the flight crew as long as they attend a course. One assumes the course is very well conceived and trained, however evidence suggests there may be some issues. If I were taking a cooking course this week I’m pretty sure there’d be basic guidelines around how and when to use the hob i.e. only put pots and pans on the hob, don’t ever put your bare hands on the hob. You know, stuff like that. As I would understand it being an Air Marshal does not involve using your weapon to control the decision making process; that’d be hijacking.

If it is intended that carrying guns on the flight deck is to assure the protection of passengers and crew from nefarious activities I would suggest the process is risky at best. I’m at pains to understand who thought this was a good plan.

Let’s take a simple scenario: Bad guys (hijackers) are in the cabin and killing people. Normally the Air Marshal, in the cabin, will shoot the baddies and then it’s all over. But if the Air Marshal is flight crew is it intended they would open the bullet proof flight deck door to attempt shoot at said bad guys? Keep in mind the flight deck would no longer be secure and there would be live rounds popping off in a pressurised vessel. All the while the remaining pilot flies the airplane single pilot and hopes his colleague is an everyday Jason Bourne.

You can see how stupid this all seems? Or maybe it’s assumed that anyone who has completed the training is an everyday crack shot. There must be a shortage of Air Marshals for the sanction of this activity, but why would you give an FO the responsibility? Unless they are mid 40s, former military personnel I would suggest they are unsuitable.

All things being equal it is not unfair to assume that any pilot, First Officer or Captain, is responsible and trustworthy. But, that’s not necessarily true. A friend of mine who was forced to drive a delivery van during the pandemic, a pilot, managed to get a driving ban for speeding and at one point attempted to put water into the engine when the oil light illuminated on the dash. This individual also ironed his own fingers one time when not paying attention to the task at hand. Education, profession or rank do not guarantee common sense.

Going off what was reported, at some point during the flight the crew were faced with a choice to divert for a medical emergency or to continue and risk the life of a sick person. I’ve made a lot of assumptions here and expect the crew used a decision making tool to get to point at which they would divert. Then the FO said if you divert I’ll shoot you. i.e. he didn’t agree with the aircraft commander so he threatened to kill him by hijacking the aircraft.

For the uninitiated, in aviation we use Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM) models to shape the decision making process. They give both crew members the opportunity to contribute and identify the most suitable route and are particularly valuable when complex problems are presented. One such model is DECIDE – Detect, Estimate, Choose a course of action, Identify solutions, Do the necessary actions, and Evaluate.

I imagine it went something like this:

Detect:

Capt – “Sick passenger with life threatening issues“

FO – “Agreed”

Estimate:

Capt – “If we don’t take urgent action to divert the passenger might not make it”

FO – “Okay. Is that really our responsibility?”

Capt – “Yes. I’m not sure where the confusion lies?”

FO – mutters something unintelligible

Choose:

Capt – “XXXX is 60Nm away, it’s a hub with a large city nearby meaning good medical assistance in a timely fashion. Do you see any other options at this time?”

FO – “Continue to destination. Are you a doctor?”

Capt – “Clearly I’m not a doctor, and I don’t like your tone!”

FO – “My tone? I don’t like your priorities”

Identify:

Capt – “Despite your attitude I’m going to humour you. What other options do we have to reach a safe outcome for passengers and crew?”

FO – “Continue to destination”

Capt – “A doctor on board has said this person is going to die if they don’t receive medical attention, promptly. Are you saying this information is not valid?”

CLICK, CLICK

FO – “My SIG Sauer 9mm says it’s not valid. And I think you should listen closely to the two of us because we are making the decisions now”

Capt – “Are you fucking serious?”

FO – “Look at me. I am the Captain now!”

Obviously this is speculation but I’m betting it’s pretty close. I’ve never had the temerity to disagree with a Captain on a decision of this magnitude. Ultimately they sign for the aircraft and have the qualifications to make a safe decision. All that said, there are a few I wouldn’t have minded pulling a gun on but then firearms aren’t legal in Ireland, even on the flight deck.

Where we go from here is anyone’s guess, but I’m 100% sure there will be no change to the policy of pilots being Air Marshals. If the system ain’t broke don’t fix it and all that. You could argue that no pilots at all would reduce down the opportunity for incidents like this, but that’s the sort of thing a chatbot might suggest were it asked to write a blog on this subject. Being a Luddite this is the sort of stunt I probably would pull but the suggestion I be replaced by a circuit board and sent to the scrap heap, to be a Deliveroo driver again, doesn’t fly. I’ll have to keep my often weaponised opinions to myself, for now.

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