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Federal Flight Deck Officer's Gun Goes Off During Flight

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Old Mar 23, 2008, 1:50 pm
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Federal Flight Deck Officer's Gun Goes Off During Flight

http://www.charlotte.com/breaking_ne...ry/549631.html
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 1:54 pm
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Another compelling reason not to have any guns onboard an aircraft...
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 1:59 pm
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According to the article in the Charlotte Observer linked to in the first post, the firearm was that of a federal flight deck officer. A federal flight deck officer is a pilot, not an air marshal.
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 2:02 pm
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Somehow this was omitted from the Observer story:

After the shot rang out, the exclamation, "D'OH!" could be heard all the way in the back of the plane.
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 2:06 pm
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there is no fam involved in this incident but rather a ffdo which is either a captain or f/o who is caryying.

The firearm of a Transportation Security Administration federal flight deck officer accidentally discharged.....
and let's be thankful that the round didn't pierce the skin of the a/c or break a window in the f/d as then you gonna have explosive decompression
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 2:08 pm
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Originally Posted by Rambuster
Another compelling reason not to have any guns onboard an aircraft...
How so ?

That the aircraft landed safely is an indication that discharge of a firearm in flight is apparently at least somewhat less dangerous than many alarmists would have us believe.

I'd far rather have a marshall on every flight and scrap the TSA than have to have my civil liberties abrogated in the name of "security".
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 2:58 pm
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Originally Posted by goalie
and let's be thankful that the round didn't pierce the skin of the a/c or break a window in the f/d as then you gonna have explosive decompression
A bullet penetrating the aircraft skin or windows will not cause an explosive decompression.
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 2:58 pm
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The article gives no details and it would be very easy to jump to conclusions.

That said, as one who carried a firearm every day for 33 years without an accidental discharge but had to investigate more than one such occurrence, I've got to think that one of two things most likely happened:

- He was carrying the weapon with a round in the chamber, under the hammer, which he should not have.

- or - somebody was screwing around, which he should not have been doing. This includes such things as "hey, Harry, show me your piece." The only answer to which is "sorry, no."

Either way, somebody is in trouble.
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 3:04 pm
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Originally Posted by abmj-jr
That said, as one who carried a firearm every day for 33 years without an accidental discharge but had to investigate more than one such occurrence, I've got to think that one of two things most likely happened:
That is the part that bothers me. An accidental discharge is just strange.

Glad the flight landed safely.
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 3:09 pm
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Minor incident. Just wait, it's a matter of time until an unarmed person is killed by one of these guns or some serious damage is done to the plane or plane's equipment as a result of one of these guns going off at an inopportune moment.

Last edited by GUWonder; Mar 23, 2008 at 4:19 pm Reason: spelling
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 3:34 pm
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Originally Posted by goalie
and let's be thankful that the round didn't pierce the skin of the a/c or break a window in the f/d as then you gonna have explosive decompression
No you wouldn't.

Originally Posted by abmj-jr
The article gives no details and it would be very easy to jump to conclusions.

That said, as one who carried a firearm every day for 33 years without an accidental discharge but had to investigate more than one such occurrence, I've got to think that one of two things most likely happened:

- He was carrying the weapon with a round in the chamber, under the hammer, which he should not have.
This is old school training and not adequate anymore. The accidental discharge is a result of pulling the trigger, not the position of the bullet. Any serious operator carries a round in the chamber. If you need to pull a pistol you won't have time to chamber a round. One second in a lethal force scenario is an eternity. You should pull the pistol and go to work, not have to instill the training of remember to rack a round with the associated time lag.

No serious force on the planet carries an unloaded weapon. An unloaded weapon is a club with moving parts.

Originally Posted by GUWonder
Minor incident. Just wait, it's a matter of time until an unarmed person is killed by one of these guns or some serious damage is done to the plane or plane's equipment as a result of one of these gunes going off at an inopportune moment.
Guns don't "just go off."

Originally Posted by sbm12
That is the part that bothers me. An accidental discharge is just strange.

Glad the flight landed safely.
I have an idea what happened, but will wait for some more info for the full debrief. I bet he was securing it and did so incorrectly.

Last edited by Cholula; Mar 23, 2008 at 4:00 pm Reason: Merging multiple successive posts
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 4:14 pm
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Originally Posted by J-M
Originally Posted by goalie
...and let's be thankful that the round didn't pierce the skin of the a/c or break a window in the f/d as then you gonna have explosive decompression
A bullet penetrating the aircraft skin or windows will not cause an explosive decompression.
so what does occur if say at 30,000 ft, the bullet goes thru one of the windows in the f/d and then the window itself is so badly damaged that it (for lack of a better term) falls apart. maybe i'm using the wrong term but wouldn't that be cause for the cabin to lose pressure?
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 4:16 pm
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Originally Posted by dgwright99

I'd far rather have a marshall on every flight and scrap the TSA than have to have my civil liberties abrogated in the name of "security".
Why do we need either one?
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 4:18 pm
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Originally Posted by law dawg
Guns don't "just go off."
Do you want to try to deny that this gun went off at an inopportunte moment?
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Old Mar 23, 2008, 4:32 pm
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Originally Posted by goalie
so what does occur if say at 30,000 ft, the bullet goes thru one of the windows in the f/d and then the window itself is so badly damaged that it (for lack of a better term) falls apart. maybe i'm using the wrong term but wouldn't that be cause for the cabin to lose pressure?
What happens? Probably nothing. If you had ever seen one of these cockpit windows out of the aircraft you would know that they are very thick and very heavy. They are designed to resist the impact of a bird weighing several pounds moving at several hundred miles per hour (the airplane, not the bird, or the closing speed). I am pretty sure that the bullet would not even go through one of these windows.

Just my two cents.
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