Pilot's gun discharges on US Airways flight

Pilot's gun discharges on US Airways flight

www.wcnc.com

A gun carried by a US Airways pilot accidentally discharged during a flight from Denver to Charlotte Saturday, according to a statement released by the airline.

The Airbus A319 plane landed safely and none of the flight’s 124 passengers or five crew members was injured, according to the statement. It was a full flight. An airline spokeswoman said the plane has been taken out of service to make sure it is safe to return to flight

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I didn't know they were supposed to be carrying firearms. I thought they said there was the fear of them on aircrafts that made them to decide to stop with just a reinforced cockpit door.

www.wcnc.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I want to know how it "accidentally discharged." I carry everyday and there is simply no way a bullet is just going to go flying out of any of my guns unless I want it to.

Now if I was an incompetent boob or a jackass or completely unfamiliar with firearms but for some reason wanted to carry one anyway there may be a chance of an "accidental discharge" but as it stands there is no greater chance a bullet will go flying out of my gun than there is of a bullet flying out of the box it came in.

This reminds me of those stories about some guy "cleaning" his gun and blowing his head off. It's impossible to clean the damn thing if there's a bullet in it! Also you can;t get at the internals to clean them unless you open it up or at the very least open the action at which point any bullet in there would make itself known. They aren't hiding somewhere trying to trick you.

If it was an accident this pilot is a moron. If it wasn't an accident this pilot is a moron.

LOL! Probably showing it to his co-pilot and accidentally fired it. That or he had it packed away somewhere and something worked it's way through the trigger guard and caused it to fire. Wonder what kind of pistol he had.....maybe they should make them carry only pistols with a safety engaged at all times unless the cockpit is breached.

Either way....doubt he will be carrying another pistol on a plane or even flying a plane any time soon.

I bet all the passengers were thinking "Wow, I feel so much safer knowing that the crack crew is armed." Honestly, this is a best case scenario, I shudder to think about a stray bullet at 35,000 ft and explosive decompression!

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
If it was an accident this pilot is a moron. If it wasn't an accident this pilot is a moron.

Yeah watch it turn out that it was a single action and he was walking around with the hammer cocked so he could "get a jump on dem terr'ists."

I wonder what went through the minds of the passengers when they heard the shot.

I think all modern firearms that are suitable for self-defense and would be authorized by such a program would require a full cycling of the trigger to discharge.

I agree. The gun fired because somebody pulled the trigger. Playing with the 'toys' in the cockpit? Just don't do it, fellas.

One test they do of factory guns in Magazine articles is they test drop them and try to get them to fire. Most modern guns won't fire. By most I mean all, heh. Factory guns, though, not some kind of after market modifications.

2 cents

Edit: I think what the poster above is saying, and I agree, such a program would have the safest most reliable handgun for such a situation. That means a well made, probably a compact hammerless revolver.

Position statement on handguns in aircraft byTaurus Arms.



[edit on 24-3-2008 by Badge01]

That Taurus is a good choice, perhaps the best choice for such a mission.

Several manufactures make revolvers in the same configuration and some are extremely light.

On thing though, use frangible ammunition.

In fact, that may be the reason, the bullet didn't do more harm.