US Pilot Flushes Down Bullets During Flight To Germany

A US pilot is under investigation for flushing
bullets down a toilet on board a plane he was
flying to Germany.
The pilot who works for United Airlines realised
he had left ammunition in his
bag and first put them in a trash bin accessible to
passengers, but later flushed them down the toilet
after a flight attendant looking for a passenger's
missing ring found the 10 bullets and raised the
alarm.
The pilot alerted authorities in Germany - which
has strict gun laws - when he realised that the
flight attendant would report the incident.
It is unclear if the unnamed pilot has been
grounded.
However, after landing in Munich, the plane taxied
to a remote area where passengers got off and
the waste tanks of the aircraft were emptied to
reveal the bullets.
A spokesman for the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) confirmed it was
investigating the incident.
“A United pilot improperly disposed of
ammunition during a flight last month from
Houston to Munich,” the airline said in a
statement on Thursday.
“We are reviewing the incident, and the pilot
remains an employee.”
Under American federal law, a pilot is allowed to
carry weapons, but only in the United States.
“Under the Federal Flight Deck Officer program,
eligible flight crew members are authorized by the
Transportation Security Administration to use
firearms to defend against an act of criminal
violence or air piracy attempting to gain control of
an aircraft,” TSA said.
Eligible crew members are not allowed to bring
firearms or ammunition when flying outside the
United States or when not on duty.
It will be recalled that investigations into a
Germanwings Airline crash in March this year
revealed that the co-pilot, Andreas Luibitz
deliberately crashed the plane, leading to more
discoveries about his mental health.