Add CategoryA PILOT has been arrested at a United States airport after he was caught with a loaded handgun in his carry-on bag.
The Southwest Airlines pilot, 51, was detained at Missouri’s St Louis Lambert International Airport after he was caught with a 9mm pistol loaded with seven rounds of ammunition, AP reported.
The gun, for which the pilot did not have a permit, was spotted by US Transportation Security Administration officials before the pilot boarded his flight to Las Vegas.
Charges against the pilot are pending, but the TSA said anyone who brought firearms into an airport checkout could face penalties of up to $16,000.
Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Melissa Ford said the pilot was scheduled to fly flight 1106 to Las Vegas as the first officer, or co-pilot.
The flight was delayed 45 minutes as a result of the pilot’s arrest.
The airline said it was working with investigators.
Following the September 11 attacks, in which terrorists armed with knives hijacked four airliners, the US moved to allow pilots carry loaded guns in the cockpit if they went through authorised training.
But the pilot did not have authorisation to carry a firearm on this flight, or a conceal and carry permit.
TSA spokesman Mark Howell told The St Louis Post-Dispatch that it was unclear why the pilot had the gun.
Whether the person caught with a gun at a checkpoint is an airport employee or a passenger, “99.99 per cent of the time they say, ‘Oops, I forgot it was in my bag,’†Howell said.
Passengers with guns in carry-on bags are frequently stopped at airport security checkpoints in the US.
Last year, the TSA confiscated a record 3391 firearms, 83 per cent of which were loaded. The TSA said the firearm the pilot had was the 46th its officers have discovered this year in St Louis. A total of 31 were found there last year.
There have been no known incidents in which armed pilots defended the cockpit against terrorists, although supporters say the existence of the armed-pilots program is a deterrent.
In 2008, a US Airways pilot accidentally fired a bullet through the cockpit wall while he was stowing his gun before landing in Charlotte, North Carolina.
— with Associated Press