Posted on 06/01/2006 9:18:38 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
(AP) CHICAGO A U.S. air marshal removed himself from a Southwest Airlines flight Thursday after dropping a clip of bullets on the floor just before the plane was to leave Midway International Airport, an airline spokeswoman said.
The marshal arrived at Midway on a flight from Philadelphia and he was boarding the Southwest flight bound for Kansas City when the clip fell to the floor, scattering bullets, Southwest spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger told the Chicago Tribune for a story on its Web site.
"Since he was no longer traveling incognito, he decided not to continue on the flight to Kansas City," Eichinger said, adding that no extra screening of passengers was necessary because officials determined the bullets belonged to the air marshal. "He picked the bullets up immediately."
The flight to Kansas City was delayed 45 minutes because of the incident, she said.
The Federal Air Marshal Service declined to confirm the specific circumstances of the mishap. But agency spokesman Dave Adams said an ammunition clip was located and turned over to the Transportation Security Administration.
Oh, right, because it's *so* much safer to be on a flight where the Air Marshal has clearly gotten off, than to be on one where there's still an Air Marshal who just isn't undercover...
The base plate of the magazine may have come loose. It happens some times when they're dropped, especially if they weren't proprerly seated after cleaning/maintenance etc.
Not saying this is what happened, just a possibility
I think you have the only explanation consistent with the ignorant reporting:
The gun was a revolver.
The "clip" was a speed loader, which readily releases all the rounds when the button is pressed.
The "bullets", of course, were cartridges.
We don't have time!!
Dude needs a Fobus. Then he should try changing to a new mag. If all the rounds fell out of the mag at a drop, it sounds like the mag spring was bad. If he keeps his extra mags fully loaded at longer period of times and never rotates his mags, he's likely to lose tension on the springs. I know that anything is possible, but I have never had rounds just fall out of a mag, however I did have a couple mags go bad after they were left fully loaded for a long time.
air marshalls don't care about protecting, they care about getting a bad guy. if they're obnoxiously noticeable, there's no chance they'll catch anyone.
"Yeah, like air marshalls travel incognito. They stand out like muslims at a Baptist convention."
I wonder about that. The only time I have read a description of an Air Marshall on a flight was some flight where someone with mental problems did not take his meds, went nuts, and got shot because his behavior was so erratic he was interpreted as being a potential highjacker.
There were two air marshalls aboard and both were wearing Hawaiian shirts, not coat and tie. So the one confirmed air marshall sighting I know of they were not dressed as expected.
I wonder whether the whole coat and tie thing is something promoted as disinformation. It would make a lot of sense to do that. Print some memos directing formal attire and leak them to the press. Tell the guy orally to dress casually, but complain about how they have to dress conspicuously. Let the public's stereotyping of blockheaded federal bureaucrats do the rest.
(I know there were also pieces afterwards about how the casually-dressed air marshalls were reprimanded for not dressing appropriately, but that would be part of the same disinformation campaign. The guys running the program *know* that the press will go after those stories like a trout after a fly.)
Not everyone traveling by air that is formally dressed is an air marshall. I had to fly in for a funeral, and circumstances did not allow me time to change after arriving. Since I was supposed to be a pallbearer, I flew in a dark suit. Everyone "knew" I was the air marshall because of the way I was dressed (even though I am a good deal overweight).
One older lady even came up and asked if she could sit next to me "in case something happened." (It was a Southwest flight.) I told her I was just going to a funeral, and was not an air marshall. She looked at me and said, "Young man, I understand. You have to maintain your cover." (BTW I am 50, so except for someone her age, I am not exactly young.)
That's because they are not allowed to used hollow point bullets, they're illegal in warfare per the Geneva convention (I think that's the right one). That is one of the reason's that the M14 has had a resurgence in use in the military.
No great problem here. If the Democrats take Congress, errr if we LET the Democrats take Congress and threaten the President with impeachment, they will soon have it illegal for anyone to have a handgun, marshall or not. That would solve the problem, in their view.
It's not a pretty picture when it happens, spring flies, rounds fly.
Colonel Jeff Cooper predicted that the "Poodle Shooters" wouldn't ultimately be up to the job.
That seemed weird to me too. What kind of gun has a clip that scatters bullets when dropped?
The "Poodle Shooters" would be more effective if we could use hollow points, same for the 9mm. Oh well.
"I doubt any of us who carry concealed do so with a weapon which takes a "clip."
I bet the M1 Garrand under his coat printed when he bent over to pick up his ammo.
"My nephew, the Houston cop, shot himself while cleaning his gun ! His chief told him "No problem, it could happen to anybody". He's still a Houston cop."
A friend of a friend claimed to have shot himself (in the back) while cleaning his shotgun.
We had an officer miss another officer in Iraq while the weapon was being cleared...
(names won't be revealed) but it was damned funny....
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