Bullet Punctured Fuselage Under Pilot's Window

The US Airways pilot who apparently fired his gun accidentally in the cockpit of an Airbus A319 over the weekend has been placed on leave by the airline, pending a review of the incident.

Flight 1536 was en route from Denver to Charlotte, NC Saturday afternoon when the firearm, a .40 caliber semiautomatic H&K USP, discharged. The aircraft was descending through 8,000 on approach to land in Charlotte when the incident occurred.

The pilot who owns the gun is a member of TSA's Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program, which allows pilots to legally carry sidearms onboard commercial aircraft.

Neither of the two pilots in the cockpit were injured... but the bullet did leave a hole in the inner and outer fuselage skins, the outer hole visible under the starboard side cockpit window.

The TSA said the Federal Air Marshals Service takes the matter seriously... and believes the pilot may have mishandled the firearm, causing it to discharge.

"This is an extremely safe and reliable weapon," said Greg Alter of the Federal Air Marshal Service. "It's not going to discharge on its own is the bottom line."

The effect of such a small puncture in the side of the fuselage on pressurization would likely have been negligible, even at altitude.

FMI: www.usairways.com, www.tsa.gov/lawenforcement/programs/ffdo.shtm