Investigation launched as JetBlue pilot loses his handgun in major airport security breach

major airport security lapse was being probed yesterday after a JetBlue pilot accidentally mislaid his handgun.

The government-issued weapon was in a backpack that was picked up by mistake by a passenger after Michael Connery put it down while he chatted with another pilot.

The gun ended up on a plane bound for West Palm Beach, Florida – while Connery was supposed to be flying to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The incident Thursday morning at New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport resulted in both flights being delayed while security officials tried to sort out the mix-up.

Connery was authorised to carry the 40-calibre pistol in the cockpit under the Transportation Security Administration’s Flight Deck Officer programme, which trains pilots in the use of weapons so they can use them in an emergency to deter hijackers.
TSA investigators were probing the blunder yesterday.

The pilot was reportedly so worried about losing his gun that he waited nearly 40 minutes before telling his bosses that it was missing.

The bag had been scooped up by Rachel Hazan, from New York, who was waiting at the gate with her parents and two children to board the Florida flight.

It was only when she got inside the plane that she realised the bag wasn’t hers and dropped it into an empty seat. Another concerned passenger told a flight attendant about the unclaimed backpack.

Identity tags helped identify the owner, but the gun was immediately confiscated pending the result of the inquiry.

Connery wasn’t allowed to serve as co-pilot on the flight – which landed almost one hour late – and could face being bumped from the marksman programme.

A TSA spokesman said the gun did not represent a danger to other passengers.
‘It was properly secured in a fashion that rendered it incapable of being discharged,’ he added.

In 2008, a US Airways pilot was fired after accidentally firing his handgun in the cockpit while a plane was flying at 8,000 feet on approach to Charlotte, North Carolina.

The bullet penetrated the fuselage but did not damage any crucial instruments or wiring.

The incident apparently occurred while the pilot was attempting to secure the gun during the fight's landing phase, which was in violation of TSA rules.