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UA captain flushed his ammunition down the toilet in flight

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UA captain flushed his ammunition down the toilet in flight

Old 16th Jul 2015, 23:10
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...9/11 may never have happened had those pilots had handguns available to them.
Simply not training pilots to cooperate with hijackers would have been sufficient.

Last edited by Capi_Cafre'; 16th Jul 2015 at 23:11. Reason: formatting
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Old 16th Jul 2015, 23:50
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You realize that even magnum rifle rounds consumed in a violent conflagration will fly about 10 feet unconstrained and will stop upon running into just about anything. (I've seen hundreds burned in rusty 55 gallon drums, and never seen one make it out through the sides. The case ruptures and the bullet just sort of falls out) I suppose they might "put an eye out" but the likelihood that anyone would be significantly damaged by a little handgun round in a metal sewage tank or garbage can in an airplane which isn't on fire, is really fairly miniscule.

Last edited by 421dog; 17th Jul 2015 at 00:02.
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Old 17th Jul 2015, 02:34
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Simply not training pilots to cooperate with hijackers would have been sufficient.
Really? The door could have been breached easily if the hijackers has needed to.
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Old 17th Jul 2015, 02:37
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The United Captain was used to dealing with this level of security, he probably couldn't imagine what the German Polizei would do.


TSA confiscates sock monkey's toy gun - NBC News
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Old 17th Jul 2015, 04:35
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Originally Posted by Petercwelch
About nothing. We all realize bullets are no risk except if burned perhaps.
I would strongly disagree with you on this point. 25 years ago I was developing my love of flying via the RAF section of the CCF. Regrettably a colleague dropped a brick onto a box of .22 ammunition and managed to detonate 4 rounds.

My knee was damaged badly enough by being hit with shrapnel that I was forced to give up climbing, flying and running for years.

Ammunition is safe when handled with the respect and care it is due. When it is not, then accidents are a serious risk.
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Old 17th Jul 2015, 08:11
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You are not even allowed to take toy guns airside as SLF Following silvertate's line of argumentation, I could take an empty unloaded gun airside too...
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Old 17th Jul 2015, 11:06
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silvertate - there's a lot of rubbish posted on PPRuNe, but to argue that someone with bullets, whether live or not, should be smilingly waved through security tops them all
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Old 17th Jul 2015, 12:57
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he had taken two clips of .303 bullets in his bag
a nine-year old kid has some toys
I'm sorry, but your definition of "toys" is considerably different from mine.
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Old 17th Jul 2015, 15:10
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First the pilot flushes them down the biff
Hopefully, his career will follow the same path......what a string!
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Old 17th Jul 2015, 15:35
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A poor decision shouldn't necessarily be career ending.
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Old 18th Jul 2015, 19:03
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vancouv

to argue that someone with bullets, whether live or not, should be smilingly waved through security tops them all.

Who is arguing that a kid can take dummy bullets through security?? Don't be such as asssss. Never heard such a stupid thing said on these forums. I sincerely hope you are not crew.

What I said, if you care to look, is that security were being dumb-asses for trying to close down the terminal because a kid has some toys. Big difference, matey, big difference.

A professional security team would say 'sorry son no toys, and don't you ever do that again'. Clip him round the ear if they like - but don't freak out and try to call a swat-team because of some toys. Unprofessional, with a capital 'stupid'.

Do you get it now?
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Old 18th Jul 2015, 20:53
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421 has it correctly. The usual calibres of ammunition are harmless without a firearm, even when incinerated, they are no danger to the aircraft and of minimal danger to crew and pax.

This is a non event.
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Old 18th Jul 2015, 22:03
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Simply not training pilots to cooperate with hijackers would have been sufficient.
What part of having your throat slit or eyes cut out constitutes cooperating with hijackers?
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Old 18th Jul 2015, 22:14
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421 has it correctly. The usual calibres of ammunition are harmless without a firearm, even when incinerated, they are no danger to the aircraft and of minimal danger to crew and pax.

This is a non event.


Security have been trained to look for more if someone brings bullets, or an empty magazine, or a part of a firearm. Not so surprising really. A dozen people could bring items that aren't dangerous alone, but could be assembled into something dangerous. Hand-loading bullets on board would be feasible, as would assembling a firearm from parts. Agree that this is a non-event. But I do understand the reaction of German authorities. Then again all the tax free liquor bottles also make formidable weapons...
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Old 19th Jul 2015, 05:23
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Originally Posted by Intruder
He even had a second chance when the FA found them in the bin, but again chose idiocy.
That's the irony, is that when the ammunition was found in the trash bin, he was handed a way out on a platter. " Hmmmm, I wonder where those came from and how they got in the trash bin.????" Oh well, hand them to me and we'll give them to the authorities on arrival. Pull into the gate, have the gate agent summon the local gendarmes: " we found these in the trash bin ... no clue how they got there. "
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Old 19th Jul 2015, 10:12
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The gun laws in germany are extremly tight and posession and carry of live ammunition without permission ( which he surely did not have for germany ) is nothing else than a criminal act. So thats the problem.
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Old 19th Jul 2015, 10:31
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Originally Posted by aerobat77
The gun laws in germany are extremly tight and posession and carry of live ammunition without permission ( which he surely did not have for germany ) is nothing else than a criminal act. So thats the problem.
Right, but once they found the ammunition in the trash bin, which came from who knows where, the captain only took possession of that ammunition of unknown origin in order to turn it over the the proper authorities at the very soonest possible moment.

Even the Germans wouldn't consider him to be in violation of the law under those circumstances.
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Old 19th Jul 2015, 10:53
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@ squared : doing it that way would be a smart move instead of saying he was the ammunition owner after the stewardess already found it . But it might have triggered a violent investigation in munich how and why live ammo found its way to that aircraft. Maybe it was not an option anymore for him because the copilot already knew it was captains ammo. I personally would have flushed it down the toilet immediately and nobody would ever notice. Putting it in the waste bin is always a risk the cleaning stuff will find it.
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