Pilot grounded after his gun goes off during flight
A gun carried by a US Airways pilot accidentally discharged in the cockpit Saturday during a flight from Denver to Charlotte, N.C., the Transportation Safety Administration said Monday.
The incident, which occurred as Flight 1536 was preparing to land, marked the first time that a weapon issued under a federal program to arm pilots had been fired.
A statement posted by the TSA on its website noted that “the pilot was authorized to be in possession of the weapon and he completed the appropriate training.”
Citing the investigation, officials of the TSA and US Airways declined to identify the pilot or provide information about the position of the gun or what the bullet struck. TSA spokesman Dwayne Baird said the pilot had been grounded.
The Airbus A319, which landed safely and without any injuries to the 124 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants, has been pulled from service, also pending the investigation. According to the TSA, passengers were not aware of the incident.
“Our safety record is superb,” Bob Hesselbein, chairman of the national security committee of the Air Line Pilots Assn., said in an interview Monday. “This was truly an anomaly. At a minimum, 130,000 flights a month are protected by armed pilots. We are an integral part of the protection of airlines in our sky.
“After 9/11, we became convinced an armed flight deck was the ultimate deterrent to stopping a hijacking plan. From a terrorist standpoint, the hardest thing to do is take control of the cockpit. That’s why the deterrent value of this program is just staggering.”
The Federal Flight Deck Officer program, created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, trains eligible flight crew members in the use of firearms, use of force, legal issues, defensive tactics, the psychology of survival and standard operating procedures. Officers who carry firearms are required to requalify for the program twice a year.
“The training is very rigorous and extensive,” Baird said, adding that crew members who completed the program were issued Heckler & Koch .40-caliber semiautomatic handguns. Some pilots carry guns that are loaded and ready to go, he said.
The pilot whose gun discharged Saturday last requalified on Nov. 7, according to the TSA statement.
“They go through same process it takes to join the FBI or other federal law enforcement organizations,” Hesselbein said. “It’s a stringent program. This was an accidental discharge -- no one wants to see this happen again. But it’s a known risk, and they’re going to see what they can do to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
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Times staff writer Mary Forgione in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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