Pilot loses gun at airport; janitor arrested
At the airport, passengers are warned, never leave your personal belongings unattended.
At the airport, passengers are warned, never leave your personal belongings unattended.
A Republic Airlines pilot evidently didn't heed that advice and left his gun in an unattended bag in a men's restroom at Philadelphia International Airport on Saturday morning, police said.
Five minutes after he left the restroom about 9 a.m., he realized he had left his satchel, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan said. When the pilot returned to the restroom, his bag wasn't there.
He immediately reported it missing to a Philadelphia police airport officer, Sullivan said.
The pilot had kept the gun in a locked box in his satchel and the bag - with all its belongings - was found about two hours later in a janitor's closet in the restroom. A police spokesman, Sgt. Eric Gripp, said a janitor had been in the restroom at the time the bag was left unattended. An officer later had the janitor open the closet after a custodial supervisor unlocked it. At the back of the closet, the officer found the missing satchel in a black trash bag. The firearm was still there, inside its locked box.
Late Saturday afternoon, police arrested the janitor, whose name was not released. He was taken to the 18th Police District in West Philadelphia for processing. Charges of theft and weapons violations were pending with the District Attorney's Office, Gripp said.
Police said the janitor was the only airport employee seen on video entering the restroom while the bag was unattended. The janitor's closet locks automatically when closed, and only airport employees have a key to the closet.
While the gun was missing, Philadelphia police and Transportation Security Administration officers undertook a search of planes and the airport, resulting in delays up to an hour for 14 departing American Airlines flights and two other flights, affecting 2,693 passengers.The restroom is between the A and B terminals on the secure side of the airport.
The pilot had flown into Philadelphia Saturday morning from Buffalo, N.Y., Sullivan said. The flight was an American Eagle flight, operated by Republic Airlines.
Sullivan said the pilot, who was not named, is a member of the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program and authorized to carry his firearm. The gun was kept in a Federal Aviation Administration-approved locked gun box, Sullivan said.
Sullivan said he didn't know if the pilot would be reprimanded.
A Republic Airlines spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
"At some point in our lives, we all do things that are absent-minded," said Sullivan, emphasizing that the pilot reported the incident right away.
215-854-2592 @julieshawphilly