 | | Admiral James M. Loy, administrator of the federal transportation security adminstration |
Pilots would be allowed to carry weapons in cockpits and airports would get a year's reprieve from screening all air travelers' baggage under the homeland security bill nearing a final vote in Congress. The compromise passed the House on Wednesday as airport managers meeting in Salt Lake City expressed concern that many airports would not meet the Dec. 31 deadline to finish the construction needed to install bomb-detection machines. The Senate is expected to pass it next week. Nonetheless, in a speech Wednesday to the managers, Transportation Security Administration chief James Loy said he was against an across-the-board extension. "We're under threat from terrorists who have made it clear that they will stop at nothing to kill Americans," he said. "I don't and I won't support a wholesale delay in the December 31 deadline." It is said airports had two ways to meet the deadline if they did not have the proper equipment installed. They could search all baggage by hand or with bomb-sniffing dogs or require passengers to be matched with their luggage on connecting flights. Bags cannot be loaded on a plane now unless the passenger also boards, but they can be loaded onto a connecting flight without being matched to a passenger. Matching all bags would not deter suicidal terrorists, though. Meanwhile, many pilots welcomed the requirement that a training program for carrying weapons in the cockpit would begin within three months of the bill's passage. Any pilot of a commercial passenger plane could sign up for the training. After completing it, the pilot would be allowed to take a gun into the cockpit. "We are looking for a last line of defense and that defense has to be lethal to counter lethal intent," said Gregg Overman, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Union representing 13,500 American Airlines pilots. (Agencies) | 新的美國國土安全法案如果在近期內被國會討論通過，美國的飛行員將被允許在駕駛艙內攜帶手槍，而美國的各個機場也將在一年時間內配備用以監視旅客行李的安全系統。 由于各個機場的負責人在鹽湖城集會，紛紛表示機場無法在12月31日前安裝完畢炸彈勘測儀器，美國眾議院于11月13日通過了同意將期限放寬一年的決議。參議院將于下周對此進行表決。 然而，交通安全管理局局長詹姆斯·盧瓦在13日對各機場負責人的講話中卻表示，他并不贊成這種全面的拖延。他說："很明顯，恐怖分子為了殺害美國人民會不擇手段，而我們就處在這樣的威脅之下。我不支持也不愿意支持將該決定延長至明年12月31日。"  如果不能得到寬限的話，機場在沒有足夠設備的情況下，只有兩種方法能達到要求。要么人工或借助警犬來檢查每個旅客的行李，勘查炸彈；要么要求旅客必須和自己的行李所在的飛機艙位相匹配。
如果乘客沒有登機，行李也就不能單獨裝運，但是可以在沒有主人的情況下被裝運在轉接班機上?？墒沁@樣的安排就不能阻止自殺性恐怖事件的發生。 與此同時，許多飛行員都對允許在駕駛艙內帶槍的規定表示歡迎。如果法案通過，他們必須接受為期三個月的培訓。任何商業客機的駕駛員都可以要求受訓。完成培訓計劃后，飛行員就可以在駕駛艙內攜帶一支手槍。 由13，500名美國飛行員組成的飛行員聯盟發言人格雷格·奧弗曼說："我們一直在尋找能夠與致命的恐怖行為抵死抗爭的最后防線。" （中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2002-11-18 01:00
