Funny thing happened at the Airport...

R

Rob Pincus

New member
I walked up to the counter at Dulles Airport this morning and told the lady I needed to fill out the form for a firearm.

"The form" I was reffering to is a little tag that is supposed to be put inside the box that the gunis located in. It has a place for the passenger's name and signature, the agents's name and signature and the date. It is bright oragne and says something to the extant of "UNLOADED FIREARM YADDA YADDA YADDA."

What she handed me was a 8.5x11 sheet of paper with several blank spaces and a lot of very fine print. It was a triplicate form, I immediately noticed a box to check if I was escorting a prisoner!!

Apparently she had given me the form that a federal agent would fill out when going armed on a plane. I asked her if she was sure I should be filing out that form to check in a gun and she replied:

"oh, you don't want to take it on board?"

I said:

"Sure, but as far I as I knew, that was a privilege reserved for Federal Agents."

She got a goofy look on her face and "oh, you're not a police officer?"...
At that point I just handed her back the form and told her I wanted to check the gun...

After she had taken care of our tickets and such I told her that I was a local LEO, but I didn't think that I would've been able to carry on board, she instructed me that If I had filled out the forms, She'd've jujst signed off on them and they wouod've been my pass through security and onto the plane...

I wish I had taken a better look at the form, I'm sure that some of the fine print said "If you are not supposed to be using this form, doing so will send you to jail for a long time when the FAA get's it's copy!!!!!" or some such....

Perhaps someone who HAS used that particular form can fill us in....

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-Essayons
 
That's pretty scary. If a terrorist type got wind of that sort of lax security, we can expect a plane out of Dulles to go boom.
 
It seems like the people at the counter would be required to verify proper credentials, before they just sent someone to security with the paperwork..

Or, perhaps the credentials are checked at the security point sa a matter of policy.

either way, "going boom" might not be a problem, as much as "going to the wrong place".. I didn't notice a line for "Number of Bombs:_____" on the form. ;)
 
Several years ago I was checking in to board a plane in the Miami airport and told the lady at the ticket counter I needed to check a gun. She asked if I was a police officer and if I was transporting a prisoner. I told her that I was an officer but was not transporting a prisoner. (I was on crutches at the time.) She gave me a form like you describe. I was also accustomed to the bright orange sticker and asked her about the "new" form. So said I had to fill it out to carry the gun on the plane. After I told her I just wanted to check it in the baggage I was given the orange sticker.
Then when I emptied my pockets at the gate to go through the metal detecto the man there became excited and demanded to know why I had a handcuff key on my key ring. Go figure.

Gunslinger
 
Rob I work for a major airline and this is the way it works; she was stupid and could be in a lot of trouble for what she did, but you would have not got on an airplane. when you get to the gate your tickets are special interest tagged and will be brought to the attention of the pilot in comand. he will want to see your id badge and reason for being armed. from this he will make a decision on wether to let you on or not. I have seen secret service refused from a flight because a pilot was anti gun, and seen local get on because they knew the pilot, but most of the time the pilot will want a valid reason and if provided will accept this. some valid reasons are escort and currier. some pilots will ask for your ammo and put it in the cockpit, some will want your weapon broken down depends on the info you give him or her. the mistake the agent made was almost allowing you into a secure area armed! if i ever find out who this person is i will make sure she gets a new line of work. we have enough anti gun sentiments on the loose not and dont need another .....pat
 
"And will the "Armed" passengers please refrain from exchanging gun-fire during both take-offs & landings."

"My name is Candy, thank you for flying United." ;)

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"The Gun from Down Under !"
 
Thanks for the info, Pat.. I sorta figured they would have to check creds somewhere as a matter of policy.

At first I was surprised that I would run into this at a Washington, DC airport.. then I thought about it and realized that she might be MORE USED to armed passengers than many other ticket clerks...
 
On a plane back from London, some fellow passengers were a group of Secret Service agents who had been part of a VIP escort. They boarded drunk and got almost to the comatose stage by the end of the flight. Two of them said they had to go on duty at Midnight; the plane arrived at Dulles at 7 pm.

I couldn't help wondering if they were armed because if anything had happened I will guarantee they would have been the gang that couldn't shoot straight. And I wonder how well protected the VIP was that they were guarding on the mid shift.

Jim
 
I know the rules are different on international flights, particualrly in "civilized" Europe.

General Clark's Advance Team, from his protective detail from Brussels, can't even CHECK IN guns when they go out to other Western European countries to do preperation/familiarization work. They have to meet the Diplomatic place on the tar0mac and are handed their weapons right before Clark de-planes...

That was the situation as of a few months ago.. nowadays, I imagine priorities have shifted and even the advance team doesn't have to fly commercial ;).
 
I've had this happen twice in the past 3 years. Once with United in Chicago and once with American in Austin Tx. There is always confusion on the part of the ticket agent and this slows up the line. What I do now is keep the last orange tag in my luggage and hand that to the agent telling them I need a new one for this flight. It works and prevents embaresement.
Now where is the spell checker when you need it?
 
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