Photos of Pilots accidental discharge

[larrymeyer]

Double Post ..........

[larrymeyer]

Why did he have to be from PA --------- Pittsburgh PA


http://www.charlotte.com/112/story/555828.html

Pilot identified in US Airways gun case
Gun's holster being investigated

JEFFERSON GEORGE
jgeorge@charlotteobserver.com
James Langenhahn

Jet on which pilot fired gun is back in air
The US Airways captain whose gun discharged in the cockpit of a Charlotte-bound flight Saturday is a former Air Force pilot who lives in Pittsburgh.

The pilot, James Langenhahn, declined to discuss the shooting Thursday night. "As much as I'd like to talk about it," he told the Observer, "I can't right now."

His name was released, apparently inadvertently, after the Observer questioned the government's concealment of facts on a police report of the incident.

The in-flight shooting was the first such incident since pilots began carrying guns after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Langenhahn, 55, is part of the Federal Flight Deck Officer program run by the Transportation Security Administration. He was stowing the 13-shot, .40-caliber pistol when it discharged -- piercing the cockpit wall and fuselage -- while the plane was preparing to land in Charlotte late Saturday morning, according to the report.

Other details released Thursday also indicate that the gun's holster is being investigated in the shooting. Some pilots have criticized the locking holster system for the Heckler & Koch USP pistol as inappropriate for the program that arms pilots. Transportation Security Administration procedures require a pilot to transfer the gun and holster from his flight bag to his belt multiple times during a flight, pilots said in interviews.

The holster system is designed with a lock that goes behind the trigger, preventing the gun from firing. But some pilots say that when the gun isn't snapped tightly into the holster, or becomes loose during transfers, the lock can end up in front of the trigger.

David Mackett, a pilot who is president of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance, said he supports the arming of pilots. But he said the combination of the current gun-and-holster system and the requirement that pilots frequently remove the gun when not in the cockpit is "just a recipe for disaster."

"The locking holster was designed to be used to lock a gun away at the end of the day," said Mackett, who is not in the Federal Flight Deck Officer program. "You need to put the firearm on an officer where he can control it and not touch it."

The bullet -- fired at about 11:20 a.m. Saturday -- struck the left side of the cockpit wall and exited the fuselage below a window. The plane, an Airbus A319 en route from Denver, was at an altitude of 8,000 feet and about eight minutes from Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, according to the police report.

Along with the captain and first officer, the jet carried three flight attendants and 124 passengers -- none of whom reported hearing the gunshot.

US Airways has grounded the pilot without pay, and spokesman Phil Gee said Thursday night that Langenhahn would remain grounded during the TSA investigation. Gee didn't know how long Langenhahn has been with US Airways but said it likely has been several years.

Airport officials released the police report Tuesday after consulting with TSA legal counsel. Sections of the five-page report were blacked out, including names and other identifying information of the pilots, as well as whole sentences explaining what happened as the plane approached the airport.

The Observer asked the TSA to review the report to determine that it had not withheld information that should be public under federal regulations. A TSA attorney on Thursday night faxed the Observer's attorney a new version of the report.

Most of the narrative was still blacked out. But the new version revealed a few additional facts, including that police took photos of the holster -- and the last name of the captain in recounting his exchange with a gate agent.

"... Captain Langenhahn informed her that he was not allowing any passengers on his aircraft until security was on the scene," the police report states.

In December, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper reported that US Airways pilot Jim Langenhahn organized a barbershop-singing tribute to a World War II veteran. The event was partly in memory of his own father, a parachute rigger in the South Pacific. The article identified Langenhahn as a former Air Force pilot.

In 1999, Langenhahn wrote a letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after a deadly American Airlines crash in Arkansas. He urged the FAA to overhaul its rules governing work and rest period for pilots, which he said would make flying safer.

[ungawa]

Originally Posted by larrymeyer

Why did he have to be from Pittsburgh PA

No suprise there.

Nice hole in those pics. I wonder what type of handgun it was? I bet it could do a number on a nightable lamp.

[fultonCoShooter]

the pilot is not to blame

see this thread

http://www.pafoa.org/forum/general-2...irways-nd.html

[larrymeyer]

I don't think the rule pulled the trigger

[General Geoff]

^^haha, that's good

[Brown-Bear]

WOW . I did not expect it to go thru the hull like that. I guess those planes really do have thin skin.

BB

[Thrasher]

Gun Accident In U.S. Airways Airliner Cockpit Was TSA Engineered!
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—It was only a matter of time before there’d be an accidental, non-negligent discharge of a Federal Flight Deck Officer’s weapon. Saturday a U.S. Airways pilot’s gun discharged on Flight 1536, which left Denver at approximately 6:45am and arrived in Charlotte at approximately 11:51am. The Airbus A319 plane landed safely and thankfully none of the flight’s 124 passengers or five crew members was injured

The insane procedures required by the TSA demands that our pilots to lock and then un-lock their .40 side arms was and is a solid recipe for disaster. Did the TSA deliberately create this bizarre and unconventional Rube Goldberg firearm retention system hoping for this result? The sordid history of the FAA and TSA’s total resistance to the concept of arming pilots to protect Americans is in itself a scandal.

Putting a gun into a holster and then threading a padlock through the trigger and trigger-guard is required every time the pilots enter or leave the cockpit. This kind of silliness has never been forced on any law enforcement or security officers anywhere in the world until now. Before this holster padlock procedure pilots with guns were forced to carry them around in a cumbersome 22 pound vault. The vault caused problems in the confined space of most cockpits.

FFDO pilots need to carry their side arms in conventional concealed holsters and there is no reason for the unnecessary handling of their firearms in the cockpits.

[Thrasher]

Originally Posted by doug

Loss of cabin pressure, and it gets really cold.
Overhead masks drop and you freeze your ass off.
I doubt it would break up the aircraft, but it would suck.

Good news is the word is out, pilots are armed and dangerous!

Watch out Hijackers!

No loss of pressure. Masks will not drop. Pilots with guns was annouced to the whole world in the news years ago after 9/11.

[J8300]

Originally Posted by Brown-Bear

WOW . I did not expect it to go thru the hull like that. I guess those planes really do have thin skin.

BB

Only in Sep of 2001 are planes thick skinned enough to smash through concrete and steel. Otherwise they are beer cans with wings.