https://www.stl.news/southwest-pilot-lo ... ing/43629/

ST. LOUIS, MO/November 16, 2017 (AP)(STL.News) — A Southwest Airlines pilot was arrested early Wednesday after a loaded handgun was found in his carry-on luggage before his flight left St. Louis, officials said.
The Transportation Security Administration said in a statement that local law enforcement was alerted around 4:45 a.m. and took possession of the 9 mm Smith & Wesson M&P Shield that was loaded with seven rounds of ammunition.

See the link for the rest of the story.

Why only 6 rounds in his 9mm Shield?

Also, if TSA confiscated 3,391 illegally carried firearms last year alone and routinely miss 80% of them, what's the point of having these incompetent dickwads even search or screen passengers?
That's about 13,000 firearms that were illegally carried on planes last year and not one used in a crime that I know of.



"Passengers with guns in carry-on bags are frequently stopped at airport security checkpoints. Last year, the TSA confiscated a record 3,391 firearms, 83 percent of which were loaded. The TSA said the firearm the pilot had is the 46th that its officers have discovered this year in St. Louis. A total of 31 were found there last year.

The article says seven rounds. That would be the short Shield mag. The extended Shield mag holds 8 rounds.

My .45 Shield is 6+1 or 7+1, figured the 9mm would hold more.

Right? You'd think at least a couple more 9mm rounds would fit, compared to the 45ACP.
This pilot was carrying a loaded and concealed weapon, with no CPL.
Per the article: "Airport officials said the Southwest pilot did not have any type of authorization to carry a gun on Wednesday’s flight and didn’t have a conceal and carry permit.
TSA spokesman Mark Howell told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch that it was unclear why the pilot had the gun."

Should be mandatory that all commercial pilots have, daily carry and are trained in the use of firearms.

Hundreds of lives are at stake.

Same thing that I thought. It should have been mandatory training after 911.

Exactly what I came in here to say.

This is backwards.

It should be mandatory that pilots carry...

Why trust a guy with a airplane if you cant trust him with a pistol?

the most logical question I have seen in a long time...

I've met some pilots that are allowed to carry.
The .45 Shield doesn't look a lot bigger, but it is a little bigger. The 9mm will hold 8+1.

This.

The sad thing is that even after asking that question, and some additional time to think about it, is that many still don't understand.

I do have a few questions about this particular situation though.
Do pilots have their bags checked the same way that we do? Did this pilot have a habit of bringing a firearm on his flights (because 9/11)? Or did he forget, as apparently happens a few thousand times a year.
There have been cases of copilots going rogue and crashing the jet...

Silence in cockpit, screaming, pounding outside as co-pilot deliberately crashes plane

It obviously doesn't take a gun to kill more than a hundred people at one time when you are controlling a passenger jet.

I left two full CZ 75 9mm mags in my backpack by accident in Oct when we flew to see our kid on Parents week-end.
TSA at Sea-tac were very nice, photographed the booty, then confiscated the mags, wrote some info down (held up for about 20 min), said I might be contacted later and I never was and I was on my way. Lost the mags though, it was cheaper to buy new ones then go through the hassled of shipping them back to myself. ($30 a pop!) I have 10 mags though. (shrugs)

Why arent most pilots armed? Because there is a huge pilot shortage and airlines aren’t in the position to make anyone do anything if they are qualified to fly and are willing to take the job.