Southwest Pilot Arrested for Bringing Gun to Airport

tmz.com/2017/11/15/southwest-airlines-pilots-arrested-guns-airport/

Airport officials just said, "St. Louis Lambert International Airport Police arrested a 51 year old airline pilot Wednesday morning for unlawful use of a weapon after TSA officers discovered a loaded 9 mm pistol in his carry-on luggage." The official says the pilot did not have any authorization to carry a firearm.

6:49 AM PT-- A spokesperson for the St. Louis Airport tells TMZ only one pilot was arrested. As we reported, 2 eyewitnesses tell us they saw 2 pilots in handcuffs.

Two Southwest Airlines pilots were arrested Wednesday morning at St. Louis Lambert International Airport ... eyewitnesses tell us they brought guns to the airport.

An eyewitness who was at the airport tells TMZ the pilots were at the TSA security checkpoint when 2 law enforcement officers handcuffed both pilots. A TSA employee told the eyewitness the pilots were arrested because they had firearms in their carry-on.

One of the arresting officers told one of the pilots, "We don't mess around here."

The passengers on flight #1717 bound for LAX were told to deplane and they each received a $100 voucher.

We reached out to Southwest ... so far, no word back.


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Questions that arise after incidents like this:

Is the pilot going to hijack himself?

Y'all are worried about the gun? Have you considered how much carnage can he cause with a plane?

You *do* realize that he doesn't need the gun to take over the plane... right?

Are you freakin' kidding me?!

Ever heard of the Constitution, m...

Forget permits, laws, and regulations - give me a good *reason* why a pilot should not be armed. Go ahead. Just one. I'll wait...

After 9/11 a program was started to train and arm airline pilots.
The Liberal Democrats didn't like the program and they obstructed it within the bureaucracy.
I don't know the current status, and the statistic of how many pilots were trained and armed is kept secret for security purposes.

The TSA have no common sense. I flew back to Philly from Mexico after the earthquake. But there was no direct flight. So I had to connect thru Miami. I made the mistake of buying a duty free bottle of Tequila. Then after finally passing thru customs I had to go thru TSA again for the connecting flight. Even though the bottle was in a sealed plastic bag it was not the correct plastic bag and I lost the fucking Tequila. Man even after a couple months I am still pissed. Some will say that the TSA was just following orders. I say the TSA are a bunch of Nazis.

Unless the pilot was deadheading and not part of the active aircrew, it really is a stupid policy. If she wanted to cause death and mayhem, she could crash the plane into a busy shopping mall and kill untold numbers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by elweasel

The TSA have no common sense. I flew back to Philly from Mexico after the earthquake. But there was no direct flight. So I had to connect thru Miami. I made the mistake of buying a duty free bottle of Tequila. Then after finally passing thru customs I had to go thru TSA again for the connecting flight. Even though the bottle was in a sealed plastic bag it was not the correct plastic bag and I lost the fucking Tequila. Man even after a couple months I am still pissed. Some will say that the TSA was just following orders. I say the TSA are a bunch of Nazis.

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A bunch of drunk Nazis!

Hey at least she had the safety on. Guess she'll have to learn karate after all.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Berncly

After 9/11 a program was started to train and arm airline pilots.
The Liberal Democrats didn't like the program and they obstructed it within the bureaucracy.
I don't know the current status, and the statistic of how many pilots were trained and armed is kept secret for security purposes.

---

The program is still in place, but it was made much more difficult by the last administration to discourage pilots from joining (imagine that). A relative of mine who was one of the carrying pilots turned his firearm back in and resigned the program a year or so ago due to increased US regulation and trouble overseas: countries like France were making it very difficult for pilots who were armed. Apparently they trusted pilots to fly 200 of their citizens, but couldn't trust them with a firearm, sort of like teachers and children.

What really kills me is the last test of TSA security found they missed approximately 80% of weapons. Why do we even continue to pay for that crappy level of service?

I have a friend who flies for delta and is authorized to carry on his flights. They’ve even issued him gear for it. He says it’s a pain in the ass but it beats being unarmed.

When Islamists started hijacking Israeli commuter buses and driving them off the sides of cliffs, Israel armed all of its bus drivers.
Islamist attacks on Israeli buses dropped dramatically as a result.
Post 9/11 it is absolutely criminal that we are not arming all of our airline pilots for the protection of the traveling public.
If a pilot can't be trusted enough to be licensed and armed, then he has no business transporting 300-400 people on a flying bomb.