Pilot's gun discharges on US Airways flight 12:14 PM

12:14 PM EDT on Monday, March 24, 2008

By DIANA RUGG / WCNC
E-mail Diana: [email protected]

CHARLOTTE, N.C.-- A gun carried by a US Airways pilot accidentally discharged during a flight from Denver to Charlotte Saturday, according to a statement released by the airline.

The statement said the discharge happened on Flight 1536, which left Denver at approximately 6:45 a.m. and arrived in Charlotte at approximately 11:51 a.m.

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. An 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.




Whoooooops!

 

Sounds like something off of Larry the Cable Guy....Well there's the problem.....

 

Posts which speaks towards FFDO cockpit weapon policy will be deleted.

One thread was already deleted.

No infractions given out yet, but the site is strict when it comes to discussions about FFDO stuff. No problem with posting the initial story but lets keep the comments about what happens up front with respect to FFDO's to ourselves.

 

what a bizarre phenomenon the pilot profession is.

 

No doubt. I made a whole 10 posts before crossing a line here with this one. And mine got closed with the "already a thread on this" gig even though mine was first (just hackin' on ya, de727, not being ugly). Now I will forever look like the guy who didn't check for posts first.

I thought a bit before posting too, wondering if it was appropriate, and in the end decided to post it in Hangar Talk since it seemed kinda significant. I admit I should have consulted the checklist first and didn't.

I thought I'd finally see some discussion on something I posted here, but wouldn't you know, first the FO steals my thunder with a dup post a minute later and then the moderator shut my thread minutes after that.

I think I'll go bounce around in the CLT TCA on partial panel a while. It's less tricky.

 

Hey Moderator,
Why are you guys restricting what we can and can't discuss about the FFDO program? Is it because it's been discussed too much? I kind of doubt it, otherwise you'd be deleting every post about how fast upgrades are and why unions are good/bad and every other topic that's been beaten to death on this board. I'm just wondering what the REAL reason is.

 

It doesn't need to be discussed here, period. If you're interested, sign up! If you make it through all the hoops you'll learn all you need to know.

https://tsatesting.net/ffdo/

 

This is a public message board. The program is considered SSI. The problem with FFDO threads is that they creep into areas that are not to be discussed publicly. If anyone wants to learn more about the program, you should contact the TSA, your company, or a Union rep.

This incident is public information. Procedures are not, which is why I am closing this thread.