Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) officers at Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport in Arlington, Virginia, cited a member of an airline flight crew on Friday, after they had been discovered to be in possession of a loaded handgun at one of many airport’s checkpoints.
The TSA stated in a information launch that the feminine flight crew member, who has not been named, was carrying a 9 mm pistol that was loaded with 9 bullets, together with one within the chamber.
As soon as TSA officers got here throughout the firearm, they instantly notified police from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (WMAA), who responded to the checkpoint, confiscated the firearm and issued a quotation to the lady.
TSA additionally informed the unnamed airline concerning the matter.
MORE THAN 3.4K GUNS INTERCEPTED AT AIRPORT SECURITY CHECKPOINTS IN 2024, TSA SAYS
TSA officers at Reagan Nationwide Airport in Arlington, Va., intercepted a loaded 9 mm pistol from a flight crew member’s keep it up at a checkpoint. (TSA)
The lady now faces a federal civil penalty for taking a loaded firearm to a TSA checkpoint, which might carry a most tremendous of $15,000.
“This was catch on the a part of our TSA officers because it addressed a attainable insider menace state of affairs,” John Busch, the TSA federal safety director for the airport stated.Â
“People who work on the safe aspect of airports and on board plane, whether or not they’re members of the flight crew, work at retail outlets, work for airways, or are contractors of an organization that does enterprise on the airport, will not be allowed to convey prohibited objects onto the safe aspect of the airport or onto a flight, particularly firearms. We’re at all times on alert for any workers who might have attainable unhealthy intentions which might probably signify a menace to aviation safety.”
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Vacationers make their method by means of Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport in Arlington, Va. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Pictures)
Whereas it’s lawful to journey with a firearm, the TSA offers particulars on its web site on the best way to correctly journey with a firearm. Specifically, the TSA says the firearm should be unloaded, packed inside a locked hard-sided case and declared on the airline counter so it may be positioned within the stomach of the plane together with checked baggage.
Thus far this yr, as of Nov. 17, 2024, TSA officers have intercepted 36 firearms at Reagan Nationwide Airport checkpoints.
Final yr, officers intercepted 39 firearms on the airport’s TSA checkpoints, and the yr earlier than there have been 29 firearms intercepted.
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The TSA stated bringing a firearm to an airport carries a federal civil penalty as a result of TSA has the best to subject civil penalties to vacationers with weapons and gun components at a checkpoint.Â
The civil penalties for such actions can attain into the 1000’s of {dollars}, relying on the circumstances.
