We believe that installing cameras in the cockpits of commercial airliners would waste precious assets on a proposal that takes an incorrect approach to airline security. The only use for a cockpit camera is to use the device to identify who is flying the aircraft. If an unidentifiable individual is at the controls, the aircraft could then be destroyed by an American military warplane, killing hundreds of innocent people on board along with the terrorists. Cockpit cameras will not prevent terrorism; on the contrary, they may increase its likelihood by providing the media with graphic video that will sensationalize acts of terror and assuring suicidal terrorists of a positive outcome. Terrorists could imagine no better ending than forcing the United States of America to kill it’s own innocent citizens.

PCSG believes in hardening the airliner target. Resources should be concentrated on improving hardened cockpit doors, secondary cockpit barriers and growing the FFDO program. Cameras should be installed only in the cabin to allow the pilots to monitor the passenger cabin and the area immediately outside the cockpit door. This use of cameras would be more appropriate and would provide the pilots with more warning and time for appropriate actions in the event of suspicious passenger activity.