Pilot's Gun Goes Off On Flight From Denver

Dealers/ Manufacturers/ Regional/ Info Trash
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[b]DENVER – Federal authorities are investigating how a pilot’s gun accidentally discharged in the cockpit on a US Airways flight from Denver to Charlotte, N.C.

Airline and federal officials said flight 1536 was not in any danger as a result of the incident, which occurred about 9:50 a.m. MDT on Saturday. There were 124 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants on board the flight at the time. No one was injured.

Officials say the unnamed pilot was allowed to carry the weapon as part of the Transportation Security Administration’s Federal Flight Deck Officer program. It was created after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The program allows eligible crew members – including pilots, navigators and flight engineers – to use a firearm to defend against any act of air piracy or criminal violence.

“TSA and the Federal Air Marshals Service take this matter seriously and an investigation is underway,” the TSA said. “The pilot was authorized to be in possession of the weapon and he completed the appropriate training.”

This pilot, who was sitting in the left seat, last re-qualified on Nov. 7, 2007.

U.S. Airways said it is cooperating with law enforcement authorities investigating the incident.

The Federal Air Marshall service said this is the first time anything like this has happened. Federal Flight Deck Officers use Heckler and Koch universal self-loading 40-caliber pistols and are allowed to carry these weapons ready to use – like any other law enforcement officer. The Federal Flight Deck Officers need to be re-qualified twice a year.

A federal aviation security source told ABC the discharged round hit the side of the Airbus A319 and did not hit any sensitive equipment. The round likely exited the bulkhead but did not result in depressurization. The incident occurred on final approach.

TSA said passengers were not aware that the weapon was discharged and flight 1536 landed without incident.

The jet has been taken out of service for inspection.

Copyright 2008 by TheDenverChannel.com. [/b]

(http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/15690409/detail.html)

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I hope this does not become a rally call for anti-gunners, who probably had no idea the program existed, to try and kill the program.

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Oh crap!! It only takes one to ruin it for everybody else. I wonder if he had the hammer cocked and negligently pulled the trigger while securing the gun. If I remember it correctly, they have to place their handguns in a secure but accessible container in the cockpit. :confused:

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[b]Man Installing Satellite TV Shoots, Kills Wife
Patsy Long Died From Gunshot Wound To Chest

POSTED: 9:19 am CDT March 25, 2008
UPDATED: 12:04 pm CDT March 25, 2008

SEDALIA, Mo. – Officials are trying to determine whether to file charges against a man who fatally shot his wife while trying to install a satellite television system in their home.

Patsy D. Long, 34, of Deep Water, was pronounced dead early Saturday evening after being shot in the chest with a .22-caliber handgun.

Pasty Long was standing outside the residence, helping her husband with the installation of a satellite television system. The couple’s children were also outside.

According to sheriff’s department spokesman Maj. Robert Hills, Ronald Long fired a shot from the inside of their home after several unsuccessful efforts to punch a hole through the exterior wall using other means.

Ronald Long told authorities that he fired a second shot, then called out his wife’s name and the names of their two children. When he got no reply, he ran outside and found his wounded wife.

Pasty Long was hit by the second of two shots fired by Ronald Long, the Henry County Sheriff’s Department said.

Hills said a person involved in such a case normally would be charged with manslaughter, but that was up to the prosecutor.

“Once we complete a diagram of the incident, we will be submitting everything to the prosecuting attorney and let him decide if he wants to press criminal charges,” Hills said.

Hills described the family as being very “distraught.”

Henry County Coroner Scott Largent declined to release details about Patsy Long’s death until the Sheriff’s Department completes its investigation.

Copyright 2008 by KMBC.com. [/b]

(http://www.kmbc.com/news/15701029/detail.html)

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Im bettin he was playing with it.

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What a freaking moron! So now we are to use guns(deadly weapons) as tools? Maybe we do need stiffer gun control laws to weed out idiots like this asshole. It is the low hanging fruit like this guy that makes it hard for those of us with common sense to legally own firearms.

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I was told my an HPD policeman (also a licensed gunsmith) who has testified on multiple occasions as an Expert Witness - that guns do not go off by themselves without some other intervention (pilot dinking with it) - hence the second rule of gun safety - “Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot” ?

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So we should further have our Rights infringed upon because of idiots??? :eek:

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I own an HK USP40, and the only way I know of to make it fire is to pull the trigger. In the second case, I’ll bet the act was proceeded by “Hold my beer and watch this”… whoa, maybe that happened in the first case, too…:confused:

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Actually, I am aware of instances where guns discharged without the triggers being pulled. It’s rare, and often the result of improperly handled or maintained weapons, but it can happen. Just some examples:

A State Police agency had one of its guns discharge upon being dropped last year. It was kept quiet both by the department firearms folks and the manufacturer. The manufacturer determined that the firing pin block had been stuck in the “fire” position due to excessive debris. The gun appeared, from what I understand, to have fired a lot of rounds without any kind of proper maintenance.

A number of years ago, a Glock sitting on a table in Pennsylvania went off without anyone being anywhere near it. I actually spoke to the forensics guy who examined the gun. The striker broke just forward of the firing pin block and there was enough spring tension to send the now-lighter striker (or striker piece) forward hard enough to detonate the primer.

edited to add: I’m not suggesting that was the case here with the pilot. I’ve spoken to a couple of people at TSA about it already and while details are not easy to get, there have been no suggestions that anyone other than the pilot was responsible for what happened.

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I have a .22 rifle that, when a round is in the chamber, will discharge every time the safety is disengaged. Needless to say, it is currently disassembled in many, many pieces.

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I caught about half of David Letterman’s top ten list tonight and it was in regards to reasons the gun discharged. At the time I hadn’t seen this post or heard about it on the news so wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

Most memorable one was “Thought he saw one of them Cloverfield Godzillas. --Buy Cloverfield on DVD April 22nd.”

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OK, all you Mr. & Mrs. Perfects, who have NEVER made an improper move with a firearm of any kind, step right up and get your “I Am Perfect And Rank With GOD In Perfectness” certificate !!

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The imposition of a higher standard of care on those carrying in such environments is well justified. As is the criticism for failing to meet that standard.

Nope, nobody’s perfect. We can, however, limit opportunity for our inherent imperfections to become manifest. And demand others do the same.

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Wait.

Am I perfect? No. Can I make mistakes? Yes.

If I make a mistake that results in a gun going off on a passenger airliner in flight, would I expect to be held responsible for my mistake? Of course.

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Making any kind of improper move and accidentally discharging a firearm are two different things. In my 20-something years of owning firearms, I have never (and I mean never) fired a shot that I did not intend to. I also don’t pull the trigger on guns I “think” are unloaded, or even screw with the trigger when unloaded. I don’t fiddle with guns when they’re being carried. When one is loaded, it is either drawn (meaning at ready) or holstered. I don’t run around with my DA/SA USP (just sold it, but CCW’d it before) cocked and off safety.

It could’ve been spontaneous combustion of powder or some kind of mechanical failure, but I highly doubt it.

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He was probably showing the stuartess how much of a bad ass he was, when he accidentally pulled the trigger in his 007 pose.:smiley:

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ya know, spellin usually don’t get me too excited but since me name be Stuart then I guess this one bothers me a bit…

It is speeled “Stewardess” after this please!

Thanks!

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folks, i am frantically trying to find the truth to this story as i read it once on the web, after the flight the pilot was showing his gun to a federal air marshal when there was an A.D., that is what i based my reply on to this story.

it just seemed to me too many people were piling on this pilot for what many of us may have experienced, i am NOT excusing what he did or did not do, just trying to point out we are human and are not perfect $h!t does happen to the best of us…, OK ?

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Overall I think it is good to have more armed people. The more guns being carried will inevitably result in more ND’s than if everyone had to keep their guns locked up at home. I think this is why the Israelis do the whole Cond 3 thing - when you have large numbers of armed people, it kinda makes sense.

The antis will use this statistically tiny incident to disarm all aircrewman, of course. I mean, those guys are always having ND’s.:rolleyes:

As to the second guy, my heart normally goes out to people I read about who accidentally/negligently kill loved ones. But what he did was so AMAZINGLY stupid, I think he should be put to sleep. He could have found out where every one was first - it still would have been dumb and criminally negligent - but still would have been better than firing rounds then saying “Wait! Where are my loved ones at?” Maybe he was drunk.