By Carl Weiser
Enquirer Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Cargo plane pilots could carry guns onto their planes in legislation introduced Tuesday, a move that backers say will close a dangerous gap in homeland security.

"A cargo jet can just as easily be turned into a weapon of mass destruction as a passenger plane," said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., the bill's chief sponsor.

Cargo pilots, who joined Bunning at a news conference for the bill, said security on cargo planes is not nearly as tight as on passenger planes.

Some cockpits have no doors, background checks for crews are less thorough, and many cargo depots have less security around them.

Their chief worry: stowaways, or even a well-organized terrorist cell that storms or infiltrates a cargo plane.

In December in Fargo, N.D., a mentally unstable woman scaled a fence and climbed into a United Parcel Service plane before being subdued.

" If a single woman could get that far, think what a well-organized terrorist cell could do, he said.

Congress last year passed a bill allowing pilots to carry guns, but during final negotiations cargo pilots were excluded.

The Cargo Airline Association, which represents the major carriers like FedEx, DHL and Airborne Express, has not taken a formal position on the bill.

But its member companies have in the past fought to keep their planes free of lethal weapons.

Airborne Express officials did not return calls. DHL Airways, whose main domestic hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, has not taken a position on the bill, spokeswoman RaeAnn Derrick said.

The cargo shipper employs 500 pilots and sends about 40 flights in and out of the airport every night.

Airport spokesman Ted Bushelman said the airport had no stand on the issue, leaving it to the companies and their pilots.

E-mail cweiser@gns.gannett.com