US AIRWAYS
Details released on jetliner gunshot
Holster for handgun is also a part of TSA investigation
JEFFERSON GEORGE
jgeorge@charlotteobserver.com
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View police report in US Airways case
The US Airways captain whose gun discharged in the cockpit of a Charlotte-bound flight Saturday is a former Air Force pilot who lives in Pittsburgh.
The pilot, , declined to discuss the shooting Thursday night. "As much as I'd like to talk about it," he told the Observer, "I can't right now."
His name was released, apparently inadvertently, after the Observer questioned the government's concealment of facts on a police report of the incident.
The in-flight shooting was the first such incident since pilots began carrying guns after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Langenhahn, 55, is part of the Federal Flight Deck Officer program run by the Transportation Security Administration. He was stowing the 13-shot, .40-caliber pistol when it discharged -- piercing the cockpit wall and fuselage -- while the plane was preparing to land in Charlotte late Saturday morning, according to the report.
Other details released Thursday also indicate that the gun's holster is being investigated in the shooting. Some pilots have criticized the locking holster system for the Heckler & Koch USP pistol as inappropriate for the program that arms pilots. Transportation Security Administration procedures require a pilot to transfer the gun and holster from his flight bag to his belt multiple times during a flight, pilots said in interviews.
The holster system is designed with a lock that goes behind the trigger, preventing the gun from firing. But some pilots say that when the gun isn't snapped tightly into the holster, or becomes loose during transfers, the lock can end up in front of the trigger.
David Mackett, a pilot who is president of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance, said he supports the arming of pilots. But he said the combination of the current gun-and-holster system and the requirement that pilots frequently remove the gun when not in the cockpit is "just a recipe for disaster."
"The locking holster was designed to be used to lock a gun away at the end of the day," said Mackett, who is not in the Federal Flight Deck Officer program. "You need to put the firearm on an officer where he can control it and not touch it."
The bullet -- fired at about 11:20 a.m. Saturday -- struck the left side of the cockpit wall and exited the fuselage below a window. The plane, an Airbus A319 en route from Denver, was at an altitude of 8,000 feet and about eight minutes from Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, according to the police report.
Along with the captain and first officer, the jet carried three flight attendants and 124 passengers -- none of whom reported hearing the gunshot.
US Airways has grounded the pilot without pay, and spokesman Phil Gee said Thursday night that Langenhahn would remain grounded during the TSA investigation. Gee didn't know how long Langenhahn has been with US Airways but said it likely has been several years.
Airport officials released the police report Tuesday after consulting with TSA legal counsel. Sections of the five-page report were blacked out, including names and other identifying information of the pilots, as well as whole sentences explaining what happened as the plane approached the airport.
The Observer asked the TSA to review the report to determine that it had not withheld information that should be public under federal regulations. A TSA attorney on Thursday night faxed the Observer's attorney a new version of the report.
Most of the narrative was still blacked out. But the new version revealed a few additional facts, including that police took photos of the holster -- and the last name of the captain in recounting his exchange with a gate agent.
"... Captain Langenhahn informed her that he was not allowing any passengers on his aircraft until security was on the scene," the police report states.
In December, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper reported that US Airways pilot Jim Langenhahn organized a barbershop-singing tribute to a World War II veteran. The event was partly in memory of his own father, a parachute rigger in the South Pacific. The article identified Langenhahn as a former Air Force pilot.
In 1999, Langenhahn wrote a letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after a deadly American Airlines crash in Arkansas. He urged the FAA to overhaul its rules governing work and rest period for pilots, which he said would make flying safer. -- Staff researcher Marion Paynter contributed
-- Jefferson George: 704-358-5071
Plane back in the air
The US Airways plane on which a pilot accidentally fired his gun has been repaired and is back in service, the airline said Thursday.
US Airways spokesman Phil Gee said the Airbus A319 began flying again Wednesday. The bullet hole was repaired in-house, he said.
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