Embarrassing JetBlue snafu! Airline pilot loses gun and flight gets grounded

Airlines losing luggage is nothing new, but at JFK Airport Thursday, a JetBlue pilot lost his bag - and his handgun.

The Transportation Security Administration is probing Michael Connery Jr. after an embarrassing mixup nearly sent his government-issued firearm to Florida, while he was due to fly to Pennsylvania.

Connery, who is licensed by the TSA to pack heat in the cockpit, was the scheduled co-pilot on an 8:10 a.m. flight out of JFK to Pittsburgh, law enforcement sources said.

While he waited to board the plane, he placed his bag down and chatted up another pilot.

Nearby, Manhattanite Rachel Hazan was waiting with her parents and two children to board a JetBlue flight to West Palm Beach, Fla.

When it came time for Hazan to board, she scooped up her bags - and accidentally grabbed Connery's backpack, the sources said.

A 40-caliber handgun was inside, packed in a separate bag.

Connery was issued the gun by the TSA after he qualified for the Federal Flight Deck Officer program, which trains pilots in marksmanship so they can defend the plane against threats.

Once Hazan got inside the plane, she realized Connery's bag wasn't hers and dropped it onto an empty seat, the sources said. A passenger told a flight attendant about the unclaimed backpack.

Connery was so freaked out over losing it that he waited nearly 40 minutes before telling his bosses about the screwup, the sources said.

Both flights were delayed while investigators tried to sort out the snafu.

Because Connery's identification was inside, he got the bag back. But the TSA confiscated his gun as it began investigating whether he should be bounced from the Flight Deck Officer program, the sources said. A TSA spokeswoman confirmed the probe. There is no criminality involved.

Connery was not allowed to serve as co-pilot for his flight, which landed in Pittsburgh more than an hour late, the sources said.

A JetBlue spokesman refused to comment other than to say the airline was "cooperating fully" with the TSA investigation.

Hazan could not be reached for comment.