Barney Fife Works For US Air?

[rpm]

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A US Airways pilot accidentally discharged his gun in the cockpit during a flight from Denver to Charlotte, N.C., according to the Transportation Safety Administration.

The round was discharged by the pilot in the left seat and did not result in depressurization, according to government aviation sources.

The Airbus A319 landed safely after the incident Saturday and without any injuries to the 124 passengers on board.

Why was there a round in the chamber?

They were very lucky the bullet did'nt riccochet and hit someone or something vital. To quote The Hunt For Red October "most things in here don't react well to bullets."

[crockett]

No longer do you have to worry about crazy terrorists with bombs.. you just have to worry about drunk pilots with guns..

[Toad]

There is no way this could have happened.

I have seen enough Hollywood documentaries to know that if any sort of gun goes off in an airliner, the fuselage rips open, the people all get sucked out into space and even the seats get ripped loose from the floor and go spinning out into the atmosphere.

So this is all a media hoax.

[Elfie]

There is no way this could have happened.

I have seen enough Hollywood documentaries to know that if any sort of gun goes off in an airliner, the fuselage rips open, the people all get sucked out into space and even the seats get ripped loose from the floor and go spinning out into the atmosphere.

So this is all a media hoax.

 

[Toad]

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Why was there a round in the chamber?

Yeah, it should have been disassembled, the magazine empty, the bullets in a separate place and a trigger lock on the frame like the DC gun laws require.  

Seriously, do you think they should have to dig it out of the flightkit and jack a round into the chamber when some looney crashes the cockpit door?

Where this guy is going to get slammed is having it out of the holster for no good reason. Unless some looney was crashing the cockpit door at the time; maybe we should all just wait for the final FAA/TSA report?

[Toad]

Well, shame on me. Turns out he was on approach to Charlotte so I'm sure the airplane was essentially depressurized. No wonder all the people didn't get sucked out.

We'll have to wait and see what happens when one goes off ~ 8 psid at altitude.

[rpm]

Yeah, it should have been disassembled, the magazine empty, the bullets in a separate place and a trigger lock on the frame like the DC gun laws require.  

Seriously, do you think they should have to dig it out of the flightkit and jack a round into the chamber when some looney crashes the cockpit door?

Where this guy is going to get slammed is having it out of the holster for no good reason. Unless some looney was crashing the cockpit door at the time; maybe we should all just wait for the final FAA/TSA report?

Seriously, yes I do. It takes less than .5 seconds to jack a round in the chamber. The door is locked and reinforced, he should have ample warning that he needs to load a round. I'm not saying he needs to keep 1 bullet in his left shirt pocket. I'm saying he needs to use proper gun safety. Full clip in the gun, chamber empty. What if he was in severe turbulence and it went off injuring himself or the co-pilot?

They were very lucky.

[Toad]

Odds are he was very stupid. They use a HK .40 and it's required to be holstered unless needed. Holstered guns with the safety on don't go off. He had to be handling it, while on approach, for no good reason.

Personally, I was suprised they picked HK. Heavy gun and I'd think a Glock, S&W M&P or a Springfield XD would be safer...especially the XD with the grip safety along with the trigger safeties.

[cpxxx]

I agree with Toad. I have to say this kind of incident was inevitable once they armed pilots. It's not Barney Fife, it's Homer Simpson. There's always one. Next time, the fool will hit something vital or the other pilot.

[rpm]

I have no idea if he was handling the weapon or not. I realy doubt he was, but you never know. I am pretty sure the safety was off and there was a round in the chamber. Poor gun safety, thus me calling him Barney Fife.

[Toad]

Well, I'm stumped then.

How does a gun go off by itself?

The HK USP40 Compact – LEM is the gun issued. It does not have an external safety. It has internal safeties and a trigger pull of a minimum of 7.5 lbs.

[rpm]

Firing pin hit the primer?

[Shamus]

I got no problem with a round being in the chamber,though the first sentence in the training manual should be "it aint a toy, don't play with it".

shamus

[Toad]

The gun's just laying there and the firing pin decides to leap out and hit the primer? How exactly does that work? Does HK have self-aware firing pins?

The trigger has to be pulled to get the gun to go off. You are familiar with the internal safeties? The designs that basically originated with Glock? On this HK the trigger has to be pulled to bypass the passive safeties.

[rpm]

Toad, I suppose you've never hit rough air on final? If the chamber was empty, this would have never happened.