No one could have foreseen this:
A gun belonging to the pilot of a US Airways plane went off as the aircraft was on approach to land in North Carolina over the weekend, the first time a weapon issued under a federal program to arm pilots was fired, authorities said Monday.
The "accidental discharge" Saturday aboard Flight 1536 from Denver to Charlotte did not endanger the aircraft or the 124 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants aboard, said Greg Alter of the Federal Air Marshal Service.
"We know that there was never any danger to the aircraft or to the occupants on board," Alter said. ...
[Aviation consultant Mike Boyd] said Saturday's incident could have been much worse. "If that bullet had compromised the shell of the airplane, i.e., gone through a window, the airplane could have gone down," he said.
Of course, nitwits like this guy want every flight crew armed. Since the possibility of a terrorist attack like 9/11 is now effectively zero, the only result of such a policy would be more accidental discharges and intentional shootings in situations that now can be resolved with less than lethal force.
Update 3/25/08:
A bullet fired by a US Airways pilot as his plane was landing in Charlotte penetrated the left side of the cockpit and went completely through the aircraft's exterior shell, according to a report by Charlotte airport police.
The shot was fired at about 11:20 a.m. Saturday, when Flight 1536 from Denver was at an altitude of roughly 8,000 feet and about eight minutes from landing at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport. It was carrying 124 passengers and five crew members.
An airport police officer observed that the bullet pierced the left side of cockpit interior and went through the exterior of the Airbus A319, the police report said. The exit point was visible on the left side of the nose of the aircraft.
From reading around, apparently the consensus is that while putting a hole in your fuselage is not considered best practice, unless it hits a fuel tank it's not going to kill you. But this shot easily could have taken out a window while they were at a higher altitude or hit something critical in the instrument panel, which would be fatal.
Get the fucking guns off the fucking flight deck.
Comments