LH copilot caught with deadly weapons brought through TSA checkpoint
Apr 13, 2011, 5:42 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 6,967
LH copilot caught with deadly weapons brought through TSA checkpoint
American authorities are outraged that he 'abused his position of trust? While he was stupid for bringing something illegal in Germany, I cannot find anything on the TSA website listing this as a prohibited item. And if they are outraged, then why do they permit so many people past the checkpoint with no screening?
http://news.travel.aol.com/2011/04/1...ly-slingshots/
http://www.welt.de/vermischtes/weltg...n-ertappt.html
'With this ammunition one can kill people from 100 metres distance'. The machine (airplane) came from LAX.
http://news.travel.aol.com/2011/04/1...ly-slingshots/
A random bag search at Frankfurt Airport in Germany turned up two deadly slingshots and ammunition in a Lufthansa pilot's luggage. The pilot had just flown in from Los Angeles.
...
The illegal weapons discovered in the pilot's possession included 286 steel ball bearings, which are used as ammunition. News sources report that an investigator said the pilot was trying to bring in "particularly hazardous items which are strictly prohibited under the (German) Arms Act."
The slingshot could "kill people 100 feet away," the investigator added.
...
American authorities were outraged that the pilot had abused his position of trust, the newspaper said
...
The illegal weapons discovered in the pilot's possession included 286 steel ball bearings, which are used as ammunition. News sources report that an investigator said the pilot was trying to bring in "particularly hazardous items which are strictly prohibited under the (German) Arms Act."
The slingshot could "kill people 100 feet away," the investigator added.
...
American authorities were outraged that the pilot had abused his position of trust, the newspaper said
"Mit den Schleudern kann man Menschen auf 100 Meter Entfernung töten." Die kontrollierte Maschine kam aus Los Angeles.
'With this ammunition one can kill people from 100 metres distance'. The machine (airplane) came from LAX.
Apr 13, 2011, 5:46 pm
#2
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: FrostByte Falls, Mn
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American authorities are outraged that he 'abused his position of trust? While he was stupid for bringing something illegal in Germany, I cannot find anything on the TSA website listing this as a prohibited item. And if they are outraged, then why do they permit so many people past the checkpoint with no screening?
http://news.travel.aol.com/2011/04/1...ly-slingshots/
http://www.welt.de/vermischtes/weltg...n-ertappt.html
'With this ammunition one can kill people from 100 metres distance'. The machine (airplane) came from LAX.
http://news.travel.aol.com/2011/04/1...ly-slingshots/
http://www.welt.de/vermischtes/weltg...n-ertappt.html
'With this ammunition one can kill people from 100 metres distance'. The machine (airplane) came from LAX.
Apr 13, 2011, 5:51 pm
#3
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 6,967
I read the 100 meters remark, saw the slingshot and wonder. So you can kill someone with a slingshot from 325 ft (approximate)? Can understand a firearm, crossbow, compound bow (maybe), but a slingshot? They might have messed up and meant 10 meters, but no way 100 meters. The slingshot was in checked baggage.
I read it initially however to be some sort of 'special' slingshot and not the regular version? Then again, I have no idea as they are outlawed, so what do I know?
The German version just says 'luggage' and doesn't differentiate if it is hand luggage or checked luggage.
Apr 13, 2011, 5:53 pm
#4
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They quoted a Customs official - not the best source, and it came from the Bild, definitely not the best source either! My far more reliable newspaper only has a ticker item.
I read it initially however to be some sort of 'special' slingshot and not the regular version? Then again, I have no idea as they are outlawed, so what do I know?
The German version just says 'luggage' and doesn't differentiate if it is hand luggage or checked luggage.
I read it initially however to be some sort of 'special' slingshot and not the regular version? Then again, I have no idea as they are outlawed, so what do I know?
The German version just says 'luggage' and doesn't differentiate if it is hand luggage or checked luggage.
Apr 13, 2011, 5:55 pm
#5
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 6,967
Apparently he violated both weapons laws and possibly air safety laws.
I still think that the quote from the American source is just bizarre - every day unskilled workers pass through TSA checkpoints with little or no screening, yet a pilot taking an apparently permitted item on board (potentially in checked luggage) is an 'outrage'?
I still think that the quote from the American source is just bizarre - every day unskilled workers pass through TSA checkpoints with little or no screening, yet a pilot taking an apparently permitted item on board (potentially in checked luggage) is an 'outrage'?
Apr 13, 2011, 5:59 pm
#6
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Apparently he violated both weapons laws and possibly air safety laws.
I still think that the quote from the American source is just bizarre - every day unskilled workers pass through TSA checkpoints with little or no screening, yet a pilot taking an apparently permitted item on board (potentially in checked luggage) is an 'outrage'?
I still think that the quote from the American source is just bizarre - every day unskilled workers pass through TSA checkpoints with little or no screening, yet a pilot taking an apparently permitted item on board (potentially in checked luggage) is an 'outrage'?
Apr 13, 2011, 6:00 pm
#7
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I'm hearing Col. Klink say "Annything that iz not allowed, iz forbidden!" 
Apr 13, 2011, 7:16 pm
#8
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I'm having a hard time getting excited over this. We used to buy those slingshots at gun & knife shows when I was ~12. Dangerous, yes, but not illegal.
Anyone 18 or over can buy ammo here (21 for handgun ammo). No ID except occasionally for age verification is needed. It can be transported in checked luggage.
This sounds more like a German political issue.
Anyone 18 or over can buy ammo here (21 for handgun ammo). No ID except occasionally for age verification is needed. It can be transported in checked luggage.
This sounds more like a German political issue.
Apr 13, 2011, 7:29 pm
#9
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Wow! He is very lucky that he didn't go to jails. He cannot allowed to brings a illegal weapons into the country. He coiuld very extremely serious troubles from German police or customs agent, too. Hope the pilots will have learns some lessons and he won't do it again in near the future.
Apr 13, 2011, 8:10 pm
#10
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Unlike a gun or tear gas can or incindiary like an oxygen generator, a slingshot is a holder and a rubber band. "Ammunition" is just ballast. A slingshot cannot be placed in the checked bag "loaded and cocked" and go off inflight. It is all just inert stuff.
I see it as ironic that 67 years after thousands of American airmen died over the Bavarian ball bearing works in Schweinfurt, a German pilot is in a German jail for importing 286 American ball bearings. (OK, they were probably made in Japan, Chain or India, but you get the point, they passed thru the US.)
I see it as ironic that 67 years after thousands of American airmen died over the Bavarian ball bearing works in Schweinfurt, a German pilot is in a German jail for importing 286 American ball bearings. (OK, they were probably made in Japan, Chain or India, but you get the point, they passed thru the US.)
Apr 14, 2011, 6:55 am
#14
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 855
American authorities are outraged that he 'abused his position of trust? While he was stupid for bringing something illegal in Germany, I cannot find anything on the TSA website listing this as a prohibited item. And if they are outraged, then why do they permit so many people past the checkpoint with no screening?
http://news.travel.aol.com/2011/04/1...ly-slingshots/
http://www.welt.de/vermischtes/weltg...n-ertappt.html
'With this ammunition one can kill people from 100 metres distance'. The machine (airplane) came from LAX.
http://news.travel.aol.com/2011/04/1...ly-slingshots/
http://www.welt.de/vermischtes/weltg...n-ertappt.html
'With this ammunition one can kill people from 100 metres distance'. The machine (airplane) came from LAX.
It's a perfectly harmless all-American tradition.
I hate these cultural misunderstandings. Why can't we all just get along?
Get a grip already.
Apr 14, 2011, 7:13 am
#15
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Oh fer cryin' our loud. Who doesn't sit out in the back yard with a bucket of ball bearings and a sling shot, drinking Miller Lite and listening to the bug zapper, trying to hit stray cats and draw sparks off the neighbor's rusting metal lawn chairs?
It's a perfectly harmless all-American tradition.
I hate these cultural misunderstandings. Why can't we all just get along?
Get a grip already.
It's a perfectly harmless all-American tradition.
I hate these cultural misunderstandings. Why can't we all just get along?
Get a grip already.