Pilot’s Gun Discharges On US Airways Flight
March 24, 2008 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
A US Airways pilot’s gun accidentally discharged during a flight from Denver to Charlotte Saturday, according to as statement released by the airline. The statement said the discharge happened on Flight 1536, which left Denver at approximately 6:45am and arrived in Charlotte at approximately 11:51am.
The Airbus A319 plane landed safely and none of the flight’s 124 passengers or five crew members was injured, according to the statement. It was a full flight. And airline spokeswoman said the plane has been taken out of service to make sure it is safe to return to flight.
A Transportation Safety Administration spokeswoman reached by WCNC Sunday said the pilot is part of TSA’s Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program, which trains pilots to carry guns on flights. Andrea McCauley said the gun discharged in the cockpit, but she could not release how the gun was being transported at the time. She did not release the pilot’s name, but said he was authorized to carry the weapon and was last requalified in the FFDO program last November.
A statement from TSA said the airplane was never in danger, and the TSA and the Federal Air Marshals Service are investigating the incident.
Pilot should not carry the firearm fully charged (round in chamber). I’m a former security officer , qualified by DOD to carry in foreign countries and manage a firearms safety academy. By the holes shown on TV, I’d also say he had the wrong ammo. These are training mistakes and his instructors should at least take note of it. Its certain the antigunners will seize upon this as fodder in their arguement for being defenseless.
I have to agree with pop seal, carrying a handgun fully loaded is risky. This will be a source of “What-ifs” for a long time. The concept of weapons on the flight is good if it is subject to tight standards. It is a shame we have to resort to these measures on our public transportation but times are different today