A member of airline flight crew has been cited by police after she was stopped trying to get through the TSA security checkpoint at Washington National Airport with a loaded 9mm handgun in her carry-on bag.
The unnamed woman was stopped on November 15 after Transportation Security Administration agents noticed a suspicious item during routine X-ray screening and pulled her bag for additional checks.
According to the TSA, the 9mm handgun was loaded with nine bullets, including one in the chamber. The local police department was called to the checkpoint, and law enforcement confiscated the weapon.
Officers from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Police Department issued a citation to the woman, while the TSA reported the “serious violation” to the crew member’s airline.
The woman faces the threat of having her crewmember ID confiscated by the TSA and possibly being terminated from her airline. In addition, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has the power to issue a civil penalty for carrying a weapon through an airport checkpoint.
The maximum penalty was last to $15,000 in 2023 in an attempt to deter people from attempting to bring their firearms through the TSA airport security checkpoint.
“This was a good catch on the part of our TSA officers as it addressed a possible insider threat situation,” commented John Busch, the TSA’s Federal Security Director for Washington National Airport.
“Individuals who work on the secure side of airports and on board aircraft, whether they are members of the flight crew, work at retail shops, work for airlines, or are contractors of a company that does business at the airport are not allowed to bring prohibited items onto the secure side of the airport or onto a flight, especially firearms,” Busch added.
Flight crews are often allowed to bypass normal airport security screening through an agreement between airlines and the TSA known as the ‘Known Crewmember’ program.
Due to a slew of high-profile incidents, however, the TSA has stepped up the number of random security checks performed on flight crews who attempt to use the special KCM lane.
Last September, a 23-year-old American Airlines flight attendant was arrested at Philadelphia International Airport after she was caught trying to take a loaded handgun through the TSA security checkpoint.
Kiala Santa Cruz was stopped after a loaded .380 caliber Ruger semiautomatic handgun was found in her purse as she made her way to work a flight.
Cruz’s arrest came just weeks after a concession worker at the airport was also arrested for trying to take a gun through the TSA checkpoint. The worker told police that he forgot the firearm was in his rucksack.
Since the start of 2024, the TSA has already intercepted 36 firearms in carry-on luggage at DCA, which is just shy of the 39 firearms detected in the whole of 2023.
