Woman carries loaded gun on plane completely undetected
The New York Post reports,
Bungling TSA airport screeners at Orlando International Airport failed to notice a loaded handgun in a woman’s carry-on bag yesterday — and she was able to fly to New Jersey with the pistol in her purse.
United Flight 15 was already in the air when the passenger, an unidentified 37-year-old Florida woman, realized her .380 caliber Ruger was in her handbag, said Port Authority police spokesman Al Della Fave.
The woman is an Orlando-area firefighter who is licensed to carry the gun, a source said.
She didn’t tell anyone on the plane about the weapon during the flight, which left Florida at 8:19 a.m.
But when she landed at Newark Airport at 10:24, she immediately told a Port Authority police officer.
“She was visibly upset. She said she had a license to carry it and just forgot it,” Della Fave said. “The [Port Authority] officer took possession of the handgun and made it safe.”
The officer contacted the Essex County prosecutor, who declined to prosecute the woman because she self-reported the incident.
The TSA had no explanation last night about how the weapon was missed during screening.