I'm curious what this additional training is supposed to be? From what I've read, pilots in the FFDO program get the equivalent firearms training of your typical Federal LE agent. According to Stretch's post earlier, all the Federal LE agents are given training for hijacking situations. What's beyond this level? Air Marshal?

So many things can happen in flight--hijacking, unruly passenger, fire, medical emergency. According to this logic, sounds like every commercial pilot should not only be qualified to fly a massive jet plane, but also be a qualified Air Marshal and expert shot, black belt in jiu jitsu, a fire fighter, and paramedic. OK, I'm being sarcastic, but the point is expecting too much from ordinary people.

Let's not forget the hijacking paradigm that is currently trying to be addressedd--hijackers taking over control of a plane and using the plane as a weapon. The old paradigm was the threat of harm to passengers. If you're trying to avoid the latter scenario, then OK, either the pilots come out shooting or you acquisce to hijackers' demands and try and negotiate your way out or else the police/military storm the plane on the ground. However, if you're worried about the 9/11 scenario, I really don't think it makes sense to send pilots out into the cabin. You want that plane down on the ground ASAP and you want both pilots at the controls, especially in such a stressful, hectic situation. You might be sacrificing the lives of every passenger to hijackers, but the alternative worst case outcome is that the plane is flown into a nuclear power plant or liquid natural gas terminal or whatever which will kill all the passengers anyway plus hundreds or thousands more on the ground.

I don't know if this is publicly acknowledged, officially, but the way I see it, the lives of the pilots are paramount in the current hijacking paradigm because they're the only ones that can get the plane on the ground (well, in one piece, at least). As I see it, their sidearms defend the pilots and the cockpit, not the passengers. Of course, the pilots are extremely concerned about the welfare of the passengers, but we all know what can happen if hijackers get control of a plane. And even if an incident doesn't seem like a hijacking at first, it could be a ruse to get the cockpit door unlocked or a pilot into the cabin, so again, it doesn't make sense for the pilot to come out in response to incidents in the cabin. It's unfortunate that it has come to this state of affairs because I'm sure that many pilots feel more like armored car drivers in their mindset now than pilots just trying to get ordinary folks from point A to point B through "the friendly skies".

Oh, so I guess we agree on your alternative solution--that what makes sense is making the cockpit an impregnable fortress. Again, in relation to the hijacking threat, that's what makes the most practical sense. I have no idea how vulnerable the current Kevlar-reinforced cockpits are, but you just need to keep it secure long enough to get on the ground.