Gun Fired By Pilot Was Being Stowed

Filed in archive Aviation Travel on March 27, 2008

According to an article on MSNBC, the US Airway pilot who accidentally fired his gun inside the cockpit, said he was attempting to stow it. The pilot didn't immediately inform air traffic control about the shooting until after he landed.

US Airways Tower Supervisor Nathan Gundlach told police that when he arrived the pilot was on the phone with the Transportation Security Administration. Gundlach contacted US Airways about the in-flight shooting, but police were not notified until an hour later.

"When I questioned Mr. Gundlach about the delay in airport police being notified, Mr. Gundlach apologized and took full responsibility," an airport police officer wrote in the report.

The Federal Aviation Administration also wasn't told immediately about the incident.

"The first we knew about it was when TSA contacted us," FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said.

US Airways spokeswoman Andrea Rader declined to comment Wednesday, but airline officials have said the accidental discharge did not endanger the 124 passengers and five crew members on board. Greg Alter of the Federal Air Marshal Service said Wednesday it remained under investigation.

Airline experts said the pilot, who was certified to carry the weapon on board, may have reacted appropriately after the accidental discharge.

"If something happens in the air that's not an emergency that's changed the course of action of the aircraft, the priority is to land the airplane," said William Brogan, an aviation expert at Lewis University near Chicago. "It's fly first, communicate second."