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Associated Press NEW ORLEANS - A man carried a loaded gun
through security checkpoints at the New Orleans airport Tuesday and boarded a
Southwest Airlines flight before turning the weapon over to a flight attendant.
FBI spokesman Ed Hall said the man did not
realize he had the derringer inside his briefcase until the Boeing 737 had left
for Phoenix.
The FBI questioned the man in Phoenix, but he
was not charged because he had no intent to commit a crime, Hall said.
"We interviewed him. We checked his
history and determined it was innocent, poor judgment," the FBI spokesman
said.
It was not clear why a security agent did not
spot the pistol when it went through the X-ray machine.
A security worker has been fired in connection
with the incident, said Southwest representative Whitney Brewer.
Officials at the company that provides security
at the airport, International Total Services, did not immediately return calls.
Hall would not identify the man, but Phoenix
police said he was a businessman from Mississippi. Hall said the man told a
flight attendant, "I've done something wrong" and handed over the gun.
Hall said the flight attendant gave it to the
pilot, who locked it in the cockpit. It was returned to the man in Phoenix.
Roy Williams, director of aviation at Louis
Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, said airport officials would meet
with the Federal Aviation Administration about the incident.
"The airport will be working with
Southwest Airlines and the FAA to find ways to improve the process,"
Williams said. "We're very serious about security and continue to
investigate the situation." Related Links: Numerous Articles about
Guns & Airplanes/Air Travel |
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