Pilot Scapegoated

An Update on Did TSA Idiocy Cause Airline Gun Mishap?: The TSA and US Airways have predictably scapegoated the pilot whose firearm discharged on that US Airways flight last March.

(CNN) -- An US Airways pilot who aviation officials say accidentally fired his handgun in the cockpit during a flight will be fired, a spokesman for a flight officers group said.

The airline has begun the termination process for Capt. James Langenhahn, said Mike Karn, vice president of the Federal Flight Deck Officers Association.

Langenhahn told police that he was stowing his gun in the cockpit of a jet preparing to land in Charlotte, North Carolina, last month when it accidentally fired. The federal Transportation Security Administration is investigating the incident. (from CNN.com)

The item goes on to report that the FFDOA will try to fight the firing according to their spokesman.

The truth of the matter is that the holster the TSA requires Flight Deck Officers (FDO) to use is designed to cause a negligent discharge. The pilot, as related in the CNN item, states he was stowing the weapon when it discharged.

DUH!

Anytime the trigger of a double action weapon encounters an object, as it must in this stupidly designed holster, there is a very real danger of the weapon discharging. My opinion remains that the TSA wishes the FDO program to fail and is doing everything it can to attain that wish.

Also see: Today's Crime File News's entry on the topic.

Our entry from March 31, 2008.