Police Take Gun From Despondent Pilot

Pilot likely was allowed to carry handgun as part of post-9/11 program
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted May 21, 2010 3:30 PM CDT
Police Take Gun From Despondent Pilot
In this Aug. 23, 2008 file photo, a JetBlue plane taxis on a runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)

Police relieved a JetBlue pilot of a gun he carried with him after he told an ex-girlfriend that he would crash a plane unless they got back together. The pilot, who was officially relieved of his duties for "health-related reasons," was not charged with firearm possession, which means it's likely he was part of the Federal Flight Deck Officer program—a post-9/11 initiative that arms and trains pilots as a last line of defense in the event of a hijacking, the AP reports.

"The subject was in possession of a firearm, which has been seized," said a rep for the agency that runs Boston's Logan Airport. "The investigation is ongoing."
(More pilot stories.)

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