WASHINGTON, Oct 2: US Air Force pilots practise weekly and are psychologically ready to shoot down civilian airliners in any new attack on America like those of Sept 11, 2001, the general in charge of domestic defence said on Thursday.

The chief of the US military’s Northern Command also said better cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies had minimized the risk of downing an innocent civilian passenger jet.

“We practice it several times a week. Sometimes we practice three or four times a week — the connectivity and having pilots airborne and go through mock exercises,” Air Force Gen. Ralph Eberhart told reporters in an interview.

He said pilots and ground controllers were screened to make sure they would not refuse an order to shoot down a suspicious airliner packed with civilians such as the hijacked jets used in the Sept 11, 2001, attacks.

“Unequivocally, to the American people, we believe that we have the right responsibilities and authorities established. We have the right rules of engagement,” Eberhart said.

He refused to reveal detailed rules but said a very careful chain of command of both identification and final authority had been established to order a shoot-down despite natural hesitancy.

“Somebody just can’t get up on the radio channel and say ‘Hey, I’m the president of the United States, shoot that down.’” Eberhart said. “They (pilots and ground controllers) have to be certified in how you use all this authentication material.”—Reuters