Officials snub plan for armed air guards

By ALAN PERROTT and AGENCIES

New Zealand will not follow Australia's lead to place armed guards on randomly selected international and domestic flights.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Helen Clark said the idea was rejected by the Officials Watch Group, set up after the terrorist attacks in the US. But it would monitor developments in airline security.

The group includes the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and appointees from areas such as aviation, defence and security.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said new security measures, expected to be in place before Christmas, would reassure passengers worried about the potential for further terrorist acts.

"If we don't respond and an incident occurs people will be entitled to criticise," he said.

Australia also plans to strengthen airline cockpits, enhance baggage x-rays and double the defence forces' counter-terrorist capabilities.

The New Zealand Airline Pilots Association does not want to comment on any of the suggested measures until after a meeting today to discuss aircraft safety.

But American pilots are fully behind changes to be introduced on their aircraft.

"We've gotta do what we've gotta do right now," said Herb Hunter, a United pilot and spokesman for the airline's branch of the Air Line Pilots Association.

American and United, the two biggest US airlines, will install steel bars on the cockpit doors of all their planes following a recommendation from President George W. Bush. Other airlines are set to do the same to protect pilots and calm nervous passengers.

United spokesman Joe Hopkins said the airline was already talking with suppliers and the bars should be on doors within weeks.

A Transportation Department task force said airlines should begin installing stronger cockpit doors within 30 days.

American said it had fitted prototypes of the devices on an MD-80 and a Boeing 757 and would put them on all other aircraft types flown by American and TWA within 30 days.

The devices were an interim measure until further security measures were found.

Other airlines, including Continental and Alaska, are prepared to begin installing similar devices on their cockpit doors but are awaiting a directive from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The steel bars are designed to prevent forced entry into a plane's cockpit, something thought to have happened on the four hijacked airliners taken over by terrorists.

But they have raised other safety concerns.

Aircraft maker Boeing expressed reservations about fitting planes with locking devices. Some airline industry observers are worried the bars could prevent cockpit evacuation and flight attendants have expressed concern about not being able to get into cockpits if pilots became incapacitated.

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Emergency telephone numbers:

United Airlines: 0168 1800 932 8555

American Airlines: 0168 1800 245 0999

NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade: 0800 872 111

US Embassy in Wellington (recorded info): 04 472 2068