I’m certainly prone to leaving mobile phones and passports behind on airplanes, but handguns? One Delta pilot went home but forgot the handgun, leaving it sitting in the cockpit for cleaning crews to find later.
We don’t have the details about who the pilot is or what aircraft s/he flew. All we know is that the incident happened in Atlanta on February 18th.
While Delta is usually quick to comment on matters of interest and controversy, it is not offering much insight here.
Delta ground crews followed procedures and turned over to law enforcement an item that was found in the flight deck after the flight’s arrival. Delta is working with relevant authorities in their handling of this case and will conduct its own review.
Asked by the Associated Press if the pilot would face any disciplinary matters, Delta declined to comment, calling the issue an internal matter.
For its part, the TSA confirmed the incident occurred and offered two additional clues.
TSA is aware of an incident at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport involving agency-issued equipment. Although we are not at liberty to discuss specific details, we can say that the public was never in harm’s way. TSA takes all allegations of policy and procedure violations seriously and when substantiated, appropriate action is taken.
A couple of thoughts on this. This statement indicates the pilot must have been part of the TSA Federal Flight Deck Officer program. This post 9/11 program arms specially-trained pilots to prevent against “attack and piracy.” Second, if the public was never in harm’s way, I trust that means the gun was not loaded and in some sort of locked or secure box. But that’s just speculation…
CONCLUSION
Here, even if passengers were never in danger, let us be thankful that the gun did not fall into the wrong hands. Can you imagine little Joey entering the cockpit, finding the gun, and picking it up?
I admit to laughing at the Airplane reference of “little Joey.” Nice one, Matthew.
Me too
Why is there a photo of a young boy pointing a gun on this article? Are boys allowed unattended in the cockpit aircraft? Are young boys on groundcrews? I must have missed the relevant facts that would merit such a misleading photograph.
Just a stock photo.
Dumb stock photo, Matthew!!
I concur!
Using that picture was a calculated move. Not very professional!
Cope out response Matthew. We all know it was done on purpose. have enough conviction to be honest about it.
#clickbait
Of course it was done deliberately. I have to choose the stock photo. See the Joey reference above.
Completely misleading “ stock” photo used to push perhaps his “Matts” agenda… Matt May also be a CNN writer. That would explain things…
You’re correct. As a retired DAL captain and one of the first 80 FFDOs in the nation after 9/11, I can assure you that “little Joey” and any unauthorized person will not enter the cockpit unauthorized…on the ground or in the air. The pilot will no longer be part of the FFDO program and no doubt be put on administrative leave. Beyond that I can’t reply to your speculation about FFDO procedures without violating our security terms. I can only say that if these procedures had been followed, as 99.9% of the thousands of FFDOs do and have done daily for 16 years now, this never would have happened. I know news, to get maximum attention, must be made to appear as outrageous as possible. The stock photo of a little boy pointing a gun does all of that but suggests this was how the firearm was found. The truth was quite spectacular and embarrassing enough without misrepresenting it to promote an agenda. You’re better than this.
Another idiot with a gun.
Wait, it’s georgia, what else could you expect…you never know when you’ll have to shoot an unarmed black man at 30,000 ft, guilty of traveling while black.
Matt you are such an ignorant idiot!
I second the motion! Not just with this article thou, but on QUITE A FEW that this author tries to publish. And yeah, little Joey is fumbling around the cockpit after hours all by himself. Also, you think that if the weapon was secured in a locked box, that the cleaning crew actually broke the box open to discover the weapon ???
Matt and Matthew are both dumb asses. We, the public, need protection. I don’t even know why this had to be reported other than for liberal satisfaction to slander authorized and responsible gun owners.
EXACTLY!!! It’s all the Libtards and “fake news” contributers ! Ignorance at its finest!
Stop being a snowflake dumbass.
If we banned guns, we wouldn’t need them for protection.
Assh*ole.
Here’s a fact, more armed black men are killed than unarmed. So stop repeating your dad’s mantra.
Huh? What are you trying to say? Being killed and being unarmed are mutually exclusive? Really, I’m not being sarcastic but I literally have no idea what your point might be.
“locked and secured in a box”
Yep you’re a lefty
You’d be surprised.
You’re full of your self
What was the point of this article? A story about there not being a story? Talk about minutes of aimless internet browsing that I’ll never get back. Stick to your real job Matthew.
I thought the most interesting thing was that Delta won’t comment on it.
Assh*ole.
So the pilot made a human mistake. At the end of a long workday, tired, hungry, maybe the wife or child is dying from cancer and can’t wait to get home to the loved one. I hate this judgemental peon world. You don’t know the whole story, and never will. Worry about what you have done and do in life. Believe it or not you are not the smartest one in the room. Move on there is nothing to see here.
I’m okay with pilots carrying guns. But I would prefer them to carry knives or a stun gun just in case a bullet ripped a hole through the skin of the plane causing it to depressurize at altitude . I want the pilots armed. They are responsible for their lives and ours in the air. Also, when I was little we were trained on proper gun handling by middle school. Stay sharp little Joey.
This is fake news.
The only really news is that white Republican males are scum. They have no ideology. They only have outcomes in mind and fit their message according to outcomes. Which mean they are hypocritical scum.
Way to stereotype. The birthplace of racism. Did you use a thesaurus to type that response as you are clearly not intelligent enough to have a vocabulary.
Talk to trump first. Like I said white Republican males are scum. If only they had made as much noise when trump was stereotyping non whites.
Things happen. No one got hurt. Not a very big deal.
Stupid photo get real are you serious?
Laws are made and passed when people are scared. Presenting stories like this in an irresponsible way to frighten people isn’t reporting. It’s pushing your own bias and agenda.
I’m not trying to frighten anyone. But if someone is entrusted with a gun in a flying metal tube that can rapidly de-pressurize at 40,000 feet, I expect a higher level of care than this.
But that’s not what you stated as your fear – it was ‘Joey’ getting his hands on the gun. If the danger of accidental discharge was your preeminent concern the use of the stock photo of a kid pointing a gun was a bit gratuitous, don’t you think?
They are both concerns. It’s just sloppy and unacceptable. Some professions just cannot afford “having a bad day” or “innocent mistake”.
Honestly, Mattthew, “sloppy and unacceptable” would describe your lack of objective reporting and opining is this piece. Seems to be a trend in print journalism these days.
“let us be thankful that the gun did not fall into the wrong hands.”
Because there have been zero measures implemented to prevent “the wrong hands” from having access to a commercial airliner cockpit. Why, anyone from the pilots to the flight crew to the pilots could manage to get in there! And we don’t even know who they are, they could be terrorists for all we know!
Right, or janitors cleaning the plane.
And here I thought the co-pilot was just using an expression when he said he was riding shotgun.