Thu, Dec 04, 2008
Disgraced US Airways Pilot Calls Findings "Encouraging"
The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector
General has reached an interesting conclusion after investigating
the case of a pilot who accidentally discharged a gun in an
airliner cockpit. CNN reports the IG found holsters used by
thousands of armed airline pilots increase the chance of accidental
discharge, and should be replaced.
The exact number of pilots participating in the Federal Flight
Deck Officer program is unknown, but the Transportation Security
Administration says it's in the thousands, and more than the number
of Federal Air Marshals. Pilots undergo special training and
screening, then are required to use special holsters issued by the
government, and lock them anytime they leave the cockpit.
The IG's report states, "In a darkened cockpit, under the stress
of meeting the operational needs of the aircraft, a pilot could
inadvertently discharge the weapon by failing to ensure it is
properly seated in the holster, securing the trigger lock and then
pushing the weapon inward to secure the holster snap."
The report also notes the very act of locking the holster risks
an inadvertent firing, if the pilot errs while inserting the
padlock hasp into the holster.
The investigation was prompted by a March incident in which US
Airways Captain James Langenhahn accidentally shot a hole through
the side of an airliner on approach to land at Charlotte Douglas
International Airport in North Carolina.
As ANN reported, the bullet missed hitting any
critical systems and the plane landed safely, but Langenhahn was
removed from the FFDO program, and fired by US Airways, where he'd
worked for 24 years.
Langenhahn limited his comments at the advice of counsel, but
called the report, "encouraging." He says he has an arbitration
hearing in January as he fights to get his job back.
The TSA maintains there's nothing wrong with its holsters.
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