Soap Box Ravings understands that a US Airways pilot who "accidentally" discharged his handgun in the cockpit at 8,000 feet as the flight approached Charlotte, NC has been suspended from flight duty.As an retired military firearms instructor and retired police firearms instructor my first thought is the pistol in question was not stored in the holster at the time of firing. I think the pilot in question, since no emergency was declared prior to the discharge, was playing with the weapon.
I can see it now: Yo pretty flight attendant, does my large pistola impress you?
KAPOW, now everybody is impressed.
And this from the #1 or #2 man flying the plane. If the suspended pilot is in fact the #2 pilot, then the #1 pilot should also be suspended for allowing a member of his/her crew to unholster a weapon in the cockpit.
If these folks are playing in the cockpit, who is actually in charge of the aluminum missile hurtling through the air at 8,000 feet. As I recall, more than one incident has happened during the time the flight crew was not paying attention.
Lest ye think I am to hard on the crew, I learned my attention skills in the US Navy Submarine Force. Submarines also require constant and immediate attention, otherwise they have been known to turn into mud seeking missiles; from which there are no survivors.
Also, most modern weapons, such as the H&K pistol in question only fire when the trigger is pulled. By definition, if you pull the trigger, it is not an accidental discharge. It would either be stupidity or lack of knowledge related to the pistol in question.
I keep reading there was no danger to the passengers, speaking of the weapon only that is probably true. However when the flight crew is distracted at 8000 feet and approaching a landing there is a problem which may eventually be hazardous to passengers.
The bullet hole in the top picture appears to be about in the middle of the picture. The bullet hole in the bottom picture is the white mark in the middle where the red and blue colors come together.Soap Box Ravings does understand, he worked as an officer and firearms instructor for a Chief of Police who was always drawing his pistol to show somebody his firearm. By the Grace of God, he luckily never fired it but he sure set a very poor example to the rest of the Department.
Pilot Suspended After Gun Fires on Flight: Soap Box Ravings loves this CNN headline, it makes it sound like the gun fired itself. I would have wrote "Pilot Fires Gun On Plane, Suspended" but CNN is normally way more liberal than I am.
