Sen. Barbara Boxer, center, speaks at a Capitol Hill rally Thursday, Sept. 5, by flight attendants calling for better self-defense training

WASHINGTON, September 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The U.S. Senate voted Thursday, September 5, to arm U.S. commercial airline pilots and allow them to use lethal force to protect threatened aircraft, despite the U.S. administration's objections to such legislation.

Approved by an overwhelming 87-6 vote, the measure states that all specifically trained pilots would be able to carry guns in the cockpit within 24 months of enactment.

"This is an important thing to do for homeland security: to make sure we are doing everything to avoid another 9/11," Senator Barbara Boxer said just minutes before the vote, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

After the September 11 attacks, pilots had fiercely argued that only lethal force could counter the deadly threat of hijackings.

The measure, attached as an amendment to the larger homeland security bill currently being debated in the Senate, also states that the cockpit door would not be opened during a flight except in cases of mechanical or physiological emergency.

Congress passed legislation last year permitting pilots to carry handguns at the discretion of the airlines and President George W. Bush's administration. But the plan to arm pilots was never enacted.

To date, U.S. President George W. Bush’s administration has preferred to boost airline security by improving airport safety checks and having armed air marshals on board a number of commercial flights.

"The Bush administration ... has not been a strong supporter of guns in the cockpit at this point," said Senator Bob Smith, who crafted the amendment along with Boxer and other senators.

Criticizing the quality of airport security since the September 2001 attacks, Boxer defended the need to arm pilots.

"Security checkpoints are not doing what they should," she said. "We need to have this provision. This is an overwhelming vote, and I think it reflects the people."

The vote was hailed by the Allied Pilots Association (APA), which represents some 14,500 American Airlines pilots.

"Members of Congress have come to understand what the American people have known for months – only lethal force can stop lethal intent," said Al Aitken, a representative of the APA's Committee for Armed Defense of the Cockpit.

In a landmark 310-113 vote in July, the U.S. House of Representatives similarly agreed to allow U.S. pilots to carry lethal weapons while flying commercial aircraft and called for immediate implementation upon enactment of the bill.

The measure dictates that within 120 days of enactment, no fewer than 500 qualified pilots would be deputized, becoming federal flight deck officers. Within 24 months, any qualified pilot would have to be deputized "to carry a firearm to defend the flight deck of a commercial passenger or cargo aircraft."

That officer "may also use force [including lethal force] against an individual in the defense of a commercial aircraft," according to the measure.

There are between 33,000 and 35,000 commercial flights a day in the United States.

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