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Loaded gun checked on plane headed from Los Angeles to Portland
Airport security officials at Los Angeles International Airport failed to detect a loaded handgun that was in the checked bag of a passenger headed for Portland on Sunday.
"Our ground crews were loading bags into the aircraft on Flight 563 that was scheduled to depart at 8:30 a.m. Pacific time from L.A. to Portland," Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said. "A firearm fell out of a passenger's checked bag and onto a loading belt. Our employees contacted law enforcement who confiscated the firearm and removed the passenger from the plane for questioning."
The passenger did not declare the firearm to the airline, which is a federal requirement, Egan said. Nor was the firearm properly stowed. According to the Transportation Security Administration's website, checked firearms must be carried in a hard-sided, locked container and meet other requirements.
Violations can result in criminal prosecution and civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, according to TSA.
The owner of the gun was questioned at the LAPD's Pacific station and released and allowed to board a later flight to Portland, according to a law enforcement source quoted by the Los Angeles Times. The gun was turned over to Los Angeles police.
The Times said its sources declined to speak for attribution because they were not authorized to speak for their departments.
TSA spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said the TSA had screened the bag for explosives and there were none.
"It's the airline and passenger's responsibility to ensure that firearms are transported correctly," she said. Dankers noted that since the firearm was in a checked bag, the passenger would not have had access to it on the flight.
Egan said the responsibility for revealing the firearm is the passenger's. "The airlines' sole responsibility is to make sure the passenger knows the rules, and that is prompted on our check-in," she said.
According to the Times, the traveler told authorities that he had flown out of Portland with the same bag, with the gun inside, three days earlier. It was not immediately clear whether he had notified the airline about the gun when he flew out of Portland.
Marshall McClain, president of the union representing Los Angeles Airport Police, said the incident showed that the Transportation Security Administration had not focused on its core mission, to thoroughly screen passengers, while expending too much effort on duties that police perform.
"TSA must do their primary mission and do it well," McClain said. "Local law enforcement needs to know that TSA is doing their part and not continuously trying to duplicate the law enforcement side of the airport screening program while their primary mission suffers."
Oregonian reporter Sally Ho and the Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
--Rachel Stark
Loaded gun checked on plane headed from Los Angeles to Portland | OregonLive.com
Airport security officials at Los Angeles International Airport failed to detect a loaded handgun that was in the checked bag of a passenger headed for Portland on Sunday.
"Our ground crews were loading bags into the aircraft on Flight 563 that was scheduled to depart at 8:30 a.m. Pacific time from L.A. to Portland," Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said. "A firearm fell out of a passenger's checked bag and onto a loading belt. Our employees contacted law enforcement who confiscated the firearm and removed the passenger from the plane for questioning."
The passenger did not declare the firearm to the airline, which is a federal requirement, Egan said. Nor was the firearm properly stowed. According to the Transportation Security Administration's website, checked firearms must be carried in a hard-sided, locked container and meet other requirements.
Violations can result in criminal prosecution and civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, according to TSA.
The owner of the gun was questioned at the LAPD's Pacific station and released and allowed to board a later flight to Portland, according to a law enforcement source quoted by the Los Angeles Times. The gun was turned over to Los Angeles police.
The Times said its sources declined to speak for attribution because they were not authorized to speak for their departments.
TSA spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said the TSA had screened the bag for explosives and there were none.
"It's the airline and passenger's responsibility to ensure that firearms are transported correctly," she said. Dankers noted that since the firearm was in a checked bag, the passenger would not have had access to it on the flight.
Egan said the responsibility for revealing the firearm is the passenger's. "The airlines' sole responsibility is to make sure the passenger knows the rules, and that is prompted on our check-in," she said.
According to the Times, the traveler told authorities that he had flown out of Portland with the same bag, with the gun inside, three days earlier. It was not immediately clear whether he had notified the airline about the gun when he flew out of Portland.
Marshall McClain, president of the union representing Los Angeles Airport Police, said the incident showed that the Transportation Security Administration had not focused on its core mission, to thoroughly screen passengers, while expending too much effort on duties that police perform.
"TSA must do their primary mission and do it well," McClain said. "Local law enforcement needs to know that TSA is doing their part and not continuously trying to duplicate the law enforcement side of the airport screening program while their primary mission suffers."
Oregonian reporter Sally Ho and the Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
--Rachel Stark
Loaded gun checked on plane headed from Los Angeles to Portland | OregonLive.com
