A Disarming Captain

By agents of the Secret Service.

The public jitters over skyjacking have increased to the point that airline business is suffering. Last week two of the companies, TWA and American, announced that they will begin the searching of all the carry-on luggage of passengers boarding each of their flights. The drive to keep guns off aircraft is getting tougher--and it does not seem to matter who is carrying them.

That point was illustrated when a National Airlines 727 braked to a halt at Miami Airport while taxiing for takeoff to Washington. The captain told four men in the first-class compartment that they would have to either surrender their hand luggage or get off the plane. The reason: their bags contained guns. Sullenly, the men agreed to place the baggage on the flight deck behind the captain's seat. Thus did one pilot express his distaste for guns on his aircraft --even when they are carried by agents of the Secret Service.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.