The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is investigating “insider threat possibilities” after discovering a 9mm handgun among a flight crew member’s carry-on items at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) on Friday (Nov. 15).
There were nine bullets loaded in the gun, including one in the chamber.
Airport police confiscated the gun at the security checkpoint before it reached secure areas of the airport or aircraft. Police issued a citation to the unnamed crew member and the TSA alerted the airline of the incident.
TSA’s Federal Security Director at DCA John Busch commended the “good catch on the part of our TSA officers”, adding:
We are always on alert for any employees who may have possible bad intentions, which could possibly represent a threat to aviation security.
DCA is the closest airport to the US capital, Washington DC. It is also the 24th-busiest airport in the country after reaching a record 25.4 million passengers served in 2023.
How many firearms are intercepted at US airports?
Although travellers can face federal penalties of up to $15,000 for bringing a loaded weapon to TSA checkpoints, security officers find thousands of firearms every year.
In 2023, the TSA intercepted a record-breaking 6,737 firearms at airport security checkpoints, 93% of which were loaded. The figure represented a nearly 3% increase on the previous record of 6,542 firearms found in 2022.
The TSA intercepted 5,028 firearms in the first nine months of 2024 – a 0.87% decrease from the same period in 2023.
As of Sunday (Nov. 17), the TSA has caught 36 firearms this year at DCA, where last week’s incident occurred.
On Saturday (Nov. 16) officials closed a runway at Dallas Love Field Airport after a bullet hit a Southwest Airlines jet.
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