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Fired for firing

Old 04-17-2008, 04:57 PM
  #1  
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Default Fired for firing

Hope he wins-

Group: Pilot whose gun went off will be fired
Story Highlights
US Airways pilot says he was stowing gun when it accidentally went off

Incident occurred as plane was preparing to land in Charlotte, North Carolina

Flight officers group says it will fight termination.

(CNN) -- An US Airways pilot who aviation officials say accidentally fired his handgun in the cockpit during a flight will be fired, a spokesman for a flight officers group said.
The airline has begun the termination process for Capt. James Langenhahn, said Mike Karn, vice president of the Federal Flight Deck Officers Association.

Langenhahn told police that he was stowing his gun in the cockpit of a jet preparing to land in Charlotte, North Carolina, last month when it accidentally fired. The federal Transportation Security Administration is investigating the incident.

Calls to Langenhahn's home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, were not immediately returned.

Don't Miss
Pilot suspended after firing gun in cockpit
In an e-mail, US Airways representative Morgan Durrant said the company's policies prevent it from commenting publicly on a personnel matter.

Karn said his group, which represents pilots who are federally trained and allowed to carry firearms on flights, will fight the termination.

"This was accidental not intentional," Karn said. "This is not the way to treat a long-term pilot."

He said he did not know how long Langenhahn, 55, has been a pilot for US Airways but said he is a veteran with the airline.

The bullet from the H&K USP .40-caliber handgun penetrated the left side of the jet's fuselage but did not hit any crucial wiring or instrumentation, the TSA said.

The gun discharge was the first public incident of its kind in the history of the Federal Flight Deck Officer program, which has trained thousands of pilots to carry weapons in an effort to improve aviation safety.

Created in the wake of the September 11 attacks, the program was approved by Congress as part of the Homeland Security Act on November 25, 2002.
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Old 04-17-2008, 05:41 PM
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It wasn't stowed in flight? I don't know the program - but I assumed it would be in a safe place and only taken out if required to protect the cockpit. Can someone shed light without speaking of details that might not be appropriate on a public forum?

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Old 04-17-2008, 05:46 PM
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"Can someone shed light without speaking of details that might not be appropriate on a public forum?"

NO, will not happen here.
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