Cockpit discharge

[aviator]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/17/pilot.gun/index.html

[justaguy]

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.

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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. E-mail to a friend

The guy should probably be fired but saying the bullet didn’t hit any important wiring is a little ridiculous. It’s not like if you cut a couple wires the plane crashes. It takes a little more than that.

[EricMN]

I disagree, I think the guy who created the holster and the TSA idiots who approved it need to be fired. The pilot made a simple mistake on a piece of equipment that the knowledgeable (and un-regulated in this manner) gun population would never carry. But, since he is mandated to carry that idiotic contraption, he made the best. I've watched the video that shows this holster and possible reason why it discharged. While I would probably do something different, I can totally see where it happened and how easily it could have happened.

the wiring is a filler for the story, gotta hit so many words...

[cobb]

I disagree, I think the guy who created the holster and the TSA idiots who approved it need to be fired. The pilot made a simple mistake on a piece of equipment that the knowledgeable (and un-regulated in this manner) gun population would never carry. But, since he is mandated to carry that idiotic contraption, he made the best. I've watched the video that shows this holster and possible reason why it discharged. While I would probably do something different, I can totally see where it happened and how easily it could have happened.

[DeanC]

Where's the Pilot's union?

[aviator]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, he shouldn't have been dicking with it in the air. He should be fired for being stupid and the pilots union should let him twist in the wind. If it had happened on the ground, chances are the TSA holster would have been the main issue.

[Stradawhovious]

Where's the Pilot's union?

I think they're still up in the air on this one.......



Sorry, coudn't resist.

[hammAR]

They are probably firing him for ruining both cockpit seats and their uniforms.......................

[BRIT_in_the_weeds]

What's that Woodbury cops name.................................Gort!!

So the pilot Gorted, no big deal

[Stradawhovious]

So the pilot Gorted, no big deal

That's effin' HIlarious! I hope that becomes standardized terminology