Re: Pilot's gun discharges on US Airways flight
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 12:55 pm
Does anyone know the gun that commerical pilots are now carrying? Just curious, I thought I read it was a .40 caliber.
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According to this guy, the FFDO program uses H&K .40 pistols.baylor wrote:Does anyone know the gun that commerical pilots are now carrying? Just curious, I thought I read it was a .40 caliber.
I have not clue as to its authenticity, but might make an interesting FOIA expedition for someone with the time and motivation...Anonymous said...
I can't reveal my identity since I am an active FFDO, but I agree with most of the opinions about the weapon and carriage system foisted upon us by the bureaucratocracy. In the beginning, TSA openly declared they would never create an armed pilot force, and yielded only when directly ordered to by Congress. They set out to create a recruitment, training, and operational climate designed to discourage pilots from volunteering. In the words of a TSA official, "No pilot in his right mind would ever go through this, so if you go through this, you are not in your right mind" --- and therefore will lose your FAA medical certificate and your career. I have nothing but praise for the field-level trainers, but the DC powersuits have been obstructionist from the beginning, from choosing an unnecessarily large, clumsy, and cumbersome sidearm to the most ridiculous carriage system ever devised (one that guarantees incidents like this) to withholding training which would allow us to carry our weapons in a safe and sane manner, to making sure we are easily identifiable as we enter the sterile (secured) airport area, and more which I cannot reveal. One bit of evidence: under the three previous transport/carriage systems, there were no unintentional discharges that I know of. The USAir incident is the fifth unintentional discharge I am aware of using the current locking holster system. Excuses can be made regarding improper usage of the holster and lock, but any system which produces these kind of results is incredibly flawed. I hope it doesn't take a fatality to get this idiocy changed.
March 31, 2008 6:51 PM
lrb111 wrote:A pilot shoots one snake on the plane, and everyone starts second guessing. sheesh!
Yep, very poor design for any type of holster.TxD wrote:Just saw this demonstration of how the pilot
could have performed the AD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTODo6yxRWI
(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.
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
Private Investigator from the Chicago area with no clue of procedures. Somebody trying to get his 15 minutes of fame through Youtube.Keith B wrote:Yep, very poor design for any type of holster.TxD wrote:Just saw this demonstration of how the pilot
could have performed the AD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTODo6yxRWI
More like anonymous, faceless person not seeking any fame, posting a very plausible scenario.73Driver wrote:Private Investigator from the Chicago area with no clue of procedures. Somebody trying to get his 15 minutes of fame through Youtube.Keith B wrote:Yep, very poor design for any type of holster.TxD wrote:Just saw this demonstration of how the pilot
could have performed the AD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTODo6yxRWI
My comment on the Youtube post was a direct quote from an Air Marshall and only directed at the video. The Captain (73Driver, what might that mean?) MUST be informed of their presence on the aircraft prior to gate departure and ocasionally we talk with them prior to push back, depending on the situation. This has been a topic of discussion lately, ya think?KBCraig wrote:More like anonymous, faceless person not seeking any fame, posting a very plausible scenario.73Driver wrote: Private Investigator from the Chicago area with no clue of procedures. Somebody trying to get his 15 minutes of fame through Youtube.
The problem with the holster is the padlock (and the hole to accommodate it). We've all known that since the first reports on this incident. TSA is an idiotic agency from the top down, and the airline is reprehensible for their decision to fire this pilot.
I suspect that his age was a factor in their decision. At 55, he's quite close to drawing a pension.