Will The TSA make Pilot James Langenhahn A Scapegoat?

US Airways pilot James Langenhahn’s gun went off as he was stowing it away. Placing the TSA mandated padlock through a hole in the holster against the trigger of a loaded gun was a deadly idea that the TSA ordered all FFDO pilots to do after entering and before leaving the cockpit. That action was the apparent cause of the pilot’s gun discharging.

Firearms trainers all over the country were shocked to find out about this very risky policy from my December revelations of the secret and unorthodox procedures created by the TSA. The fact that there are not similar accidents every day with this policy is a monument to the pilots who have volunteered for the training and duty.

Revealing classified information was the only way to expose the danger and force the TSA to eliminate the unnecessary and dangerous handling of the FFDO’s service weapons. With last weeks’ accidental discharge and exposure of the problem there’s a good chance the TSA will see the error of their way and retire those padlocks. Thankfully nobody was killed or injured.

I expect to see some quick Congressional action on this issue. I also expect to see the involved pilot cleared of negligence, returned to his job with an apology and any back pay in light of the failed TSA procedures.

Why Politicians Need So Much Protection In Today’s America

Being an American President is a very dangerous job. The likelihood of being shot while holding office is higher than ten percent. But for a single attack on the House of Representatives Puerto Rican separatists our presidents by and politicians have only suffered assaults by a few disenfranchised or mentally ill Americans.

Today’s politicians are very afraid of the American people as they have stepped up their personal security and insisted anyone allowed near them be searched like criminals. The politicians most concerned are the ones with their hands in their fellow American’s pockets as they regulate them to death. With each intrusion into our lives another layer of politician security is put in place.

There must come a time when politicians forfeit their lives for stealing American’s freedom, liberty and money. American politicians are clueless about the ability, ingenuity and resources of the population they victimize. Politicians seem to forget that the Americans who make the vary weapons they use to make war can redirect their efforts on traitors.

The three current top Presidential contenders are a Black man that embraces and supports a church run by an anti-American hatemonger, a corrupt former First Lady and a pretend Conservative that votes most often with the other two would be Presidents in the Senate. All three candidates have demanded we give away our educational, medical assets and jobs to illegal aliens. No matter which one of these sorry politicians wins this time Americans will lose.

Perhaps the young American Experiment has ended as America embraces the failed ideals of Karl Marx. We can’t continue to run on corruption, greed and printed money backed by nothing at all.

It appears America may be on the verge of a great depression. I don’t expect our population to withstand an interruption in their food or gasoline supply for very long. That’s especially true of the millions currently receiving government assistance.

Perhaps the best course of action for worried politicians is to embrace the idea of returning liberty and stay out of our pockets. Our founding fathers were really bright fellows.

What Will It Take For The TSA To Retire The Holster Padlock?

Under poorly thought out directives this padlock shackle must rest across the trigger of every flight deck officer’s service pistol. This lock clearly causes accidental discharges.

No trigger lock maker has ever made a device for use on a loaded gun. Using this padlock as a trigger lock was a poor and dangerous idea for anyone much less pilots of our air carriers. Requiring pilots to lock and unlock the padlocks on airplanes is very risky. The locks turn the FFDO's defensive weapon into a deadly booby-trap.

Must someone be killed first? This is really very simple to correct by recalling the padlocks and ordering the FFDO pilots to quit using them.

The proper way to insure that the pilot’s guns stay safe and secure is for them to keep them in a belt or shoulder holster at all times. That would end the unnecessary handling of the firearms altogether. It’s such a simple concept even a TSA director should be able to understand.

The Training Of Federal Flight Deck Officers (Armed Pilots) And the TSA Spin Doctors.

The TSA public relations spinners are out in full force defending their deadly, booby-trap FFDO holster design. They want to suggest that the solid week of intense training does not qualify the pilots to carry and retain guns like other federal officers.

One weeks training is shorter than agencies like the FBI but pilots don’t need the additional training on criminal law, evidence collection, rules of evidence and investigative functions. The actual FFDO firearm and tactics training is equal to that of any other federal officer’s.

I can’t even imagine a real firearms trainer teaching FFDO pilots to use any piece of equipment that allows or invites a foreign object like their “safety padlock” to come into contact with the trigger of a loaded firearm. Any self-respecting trainer would walk off the job first. The only reason this danger was not leaked to the public and press sooner is because the TSA classified the procedures as National Security. Nobody wants to risk prison. Pilots and trainers were all quietly holding their noses and going along with a dangerous and unworkable program.

Any self-respecting law enforcement firearms trainer would want the FFDOs to carry their weapons concealed and handle them only in an emergency just like any cop. The TSA's insane locking and unlocking procedures with a dangerously designed and unproven “safety padlock” was asking for a failure.

The FFDO holsters are otherwise well constructed but the padlocks must be recalled and used elsewhere. FFDO rules must change so they can carry their firearms while at work and commuting. This will also reduce thefts and the loss of the pilot’s weapons along with accidents.

Watch the video of the recreated accidental discharge...

We get Letters!

I got this comment on my TSA booby-trap holster video and it was too good not to share with all of my readers.

I guess the fine folks at the TSA don’t like the First Amendment any more than the others in our Bill of Rights!

Mr. Huebl.
Your disgraceful and insulting remarks about the fine men and women who keep you safe at the TSA should be a federal offense.

Releasing classified information as you have is a serious offense.
I think you should be taken to Guantanamo Bay detention camp and water-boarded until you confess just who provided you with that TSA Flight Deck Officer’s, gun, holster and safety padlock.

You and your gun-slinging pilot pals all need a long vacation in a federal cooler for treason.

The FAA and TSA have been doing a fine job of protecting Americans from the National Rifle Association.
Sincerely,
The TSA

Spector’s Trial Specter Is A Long Way Off

After Judge Larry Paul Fidler was forced to declare a mistrial at Phil Spector’s murder trial he beat his chest and told Spector and his lawyers he was going to force the re-trial to begin in 60 days. I was wondering just what the good judge was thinking when he was making unreasonable time requirement demands on a man who was on trial for his life.

Lawyers can’t prepare for a trial where the evidence and its interpretation is of such a highly technical nature on any kind of fast track. You have to balance the monumental tasks assigned to the lawyers and their experts against their professional schedules.

In addition to a pending 44 page defense moition seeking to oust Judge Fidler for his continually demonstrated bias, Spector’s lawyer, Doron Weinberg said he was filing a separate Writ sometime today.

At some point in the coming months the challenge to Judge Fidler’s continued participation in the case will have to be fully briefed and argued. Of course a ruling must follow.

A September trial date was discussed but that’s not realistic either. Perhaps in December or January the stars may align for The People Vs. Phil Spector-Take Two.

Disclaimer:

I have followed this case since the day Lana Clarkson died from that inter-oral gunshot wound. Until after the first trial I was never acquainted with Phil Spector or any of his lawyers.

I have made myself available as a licensed private investigator for defense purposes because the evidence indicates Ms. Clarkson died by her own hand. To date they have not utilized my services.

Most defense attorneys won’t work with an investigator they don’t know. Defense teams can be infiltrated by people really working for clients other than the accused. That, in fact happened already to Phil Spector during this investigation and litigation.

I strongly belive that Spector only became a suspect after Alhambra Police unnecessarily resorted to shocking Phil Spector, a senior citizen twice with Taser stun gun.

The subsequent indictment against Spector did cloak the City Of Alhambra with immunity from any lawsuit.

I make no secret that I ardently support Spector as a man wrongfully charged with murder because of a flawed investigation and prosecution.

I’m not now nor have I ever been Spector’s employee, friend, public relations flack or investigator. I’m simply an investigative blogger demanding that Phil Spector gets a fair day in court.

I’m keeping my options open to help with the defense of Phil Spector in any future civil or criminal proceedings.

U.S. Airways Pilot In Gun Mishap ID’d By TSA Bungling

TSA officials released pilot, James Langenhahn’s name to the media by accident. As they were redacting sensitive information they left his name visible on a police report provided to the Charlotte Observer.

The TSA is working hard to evade their own responsibility and turn the career pilot and Air Force veteran into a scapegoat for the accident. The video I made shows just how a FFDO following the goofy TSA gun handling regulations can have a deadly accident.

The TSA and the other opponents to the armed pilot program are spinning this incident to absolve the agency and destroy Langenhahn’s name and career.
Read the news story here.

See Crimefile’s video here.

Video of the Dangerous Firearm policy of The TSA

This video will show you the obvious cause of the accidental discharge of a Federal Flight Deck Officer's Service weapon. The cause was a flawed and dangerous policy requiring redundant and unnecessary firearm handling by the pilots and an equipment design disaster. You don’t place foreign objects next to a trigger of a loaded gun!

The AIRLINE PILOTS SECURITY ALLIANCE Reacted to the Gun Mishap on That US Airways Flight

They’ve echoed what I have been saying all along.
Read the APSA Press Release here.

I’m No Fan Of Gloria Alled Or Nipple Rings But…

TMZ.com is reporting that the Queen of Legal Bottom Feeders is finally going after a worthy target on behalf of a client. It seems that the weenies hired by the TSA forced a woman to use pliers in order to remove a pair of nipple rings before she could board her flight.

I say this is just another horrible example of millions of unnecessary privacy invasions that the TSA loves to get attention for doing. It’s their twisted public relations move to convince the flying public that we are somehow safe through their serious Fourth Amendment violations

Sic’em Gloria!

TSA and Their Dangerous Mismanagement Of America’s Airline Security.

Historically Vessel and Airplane captains are the chief law enforcement officers on their ships. The powers of the captains were absolute when it came to insuring the safety of passengers and crew. That’s no longer been the case since the FAA and TSA desk bound bureaucrats have taken over taken over total control.

9-11 would have been just another day in America if the pilots were simply trained and armed. Pilots were disarmed decades earlier by the political patronage hacks within the all powerful FAA.

Instead of allowing the captains on their ships during emergencies to decide their own course of action the FAA bureaucrats issued strict and inflexible regulations to cooperate with terrorists and hijackers. We all know how a bunch of small and skinny but well trained Muslim terrorists easily defeated the FAA’s billion dollars plus security program.

Instead of turning the sensitive security duties over to cops and pilots our politicians created the TSA jobs program filling the positions with the very same bureaucrats that presided over security before 9/11.

The public made demands on Congress to arm our pilots after the TSA rejected the concept altogether. The Congress passed legislation that became law overriding the embittered TSA administrators. The TSA’s response to the law of the land was constant obstruction and interference.

The TSA is still engaged in foot-dragging as they created absurd policies and rules for pilots who chose to endure the gauntlet of obstacles and become Federal Flight Deck Officers.

An FFDO may only carry and have access of a firearm within the confines of the tiny cockpit of the plane. Before the FFDO can remove his handgun from his carryon baggage he must be in the cockpit. The gun must be contained loaded in a holster secured through the trigger guard by a padlock until the cockpit door is locked. Next the FFDO must remove the padlock and put the holster on his strong side. Each time the FFDO leaves the cockpit for any reason he must remove the holster, and relock the padlock. Of course at the end of each flight he must go through this involved protocol.

The downside of this silly ritual is repeated and unnecessary handling of the firearm along with serious safety issues. The padlock lock actually touches the trigger of a loaded gun! That explaies only too well just how an FFDO's gun discharged on that U.S. Airways flight.

Pilots are and should be responsible for their entire ship not just the cockpit. Pilots should carry their firearms concealed in conventional holsters from the moment they are inside an airport.

An example of a security hole is the tarmac area of nearly every airport where pilots must inspect their plane. Pilots should be able to react to an attack by terrorists should that happen. The FFDO pilots are well trained and capable to handle these responsibilities.

Americans have been judging the quality of airline security by the rude privacy invasions by thousands of baggage and passenger screeners. The passenger screening is nothing more than a fraudulent and ineffective way to protect Americans.

Real security must begin with the placement of all passengers flying with passports from unfriendly nations on the No Fly List.

Every off duty peace officer with proper credentials should be allowed to fly while armed as they were allowed to do until recent times. There were two disarmed cops killed on separate hijacked 9/11 planes. If they were not disarmed by FAA bureaucrats many lives would have been saved.

The TSA has done nothing but hidden their incompetence and general failings by classifying their deeds and policy under the cover of National Security. Yes, I have written about things the TSA would strenuously object to me publishing. The First Amendment is a wonderful thing when it uncovers waste, fraud and bad government.

More information about the TSA padlock holster can be found here.

Help SECOND CITY COP Save The Chicago Police Department

I must say that the City of Chicago has lost most its luster. Crooked politicians and their contractors have bled the city bone dry as they magically escape criminal investigation or Indictment. . Chicago has become the most unattractive place to live and work for all but the super rich or government freeloaders.

The once proud police department has been decimated through affirmative action and the massive lowering of hiring standards. Clout provides sub-standard officers promotions and a job for life or at least until age 63. Clout always was a help but most officers needed at least a little of their own merits to succeed. Not anymore.

The morale of the department is reflected in the overall lousy appearance of the officers. The officer’s grooming and image today is beyond saddening.

The FOP is only a group of yes men for the politicians collecting inflated salaries forked over by working cops. The rank and file can’t seem to overcome residency requirements, mediocre pay and little hope for respect or any improvement at all.

One day along came an anonymous blogger who created a first rate communications system for all officers to be able to penetrate and expose corruption, favoritism and bad management.

Every boss knows that stepping out of line will get him or her some well deserved attention. Second City Cop has given the street patrolman real power. 7000 people a day visit the site to find out what what’s going on and just how they may be affected in their professional lives. Officers commenting can reveal things that their bosses seek to cover up.

If the rank and file officers are to ever have pride again in their city and job it will because of Second City Cop and the other likeminded officers.

A concerted effort to get rid of Ed Burke, his puppet mayor and a truly worthless city council has to begin. Next their political hacks, and their cronies need to be removed. If all the cops would follow their oaths and expose the politician’s deeds they know about a great change would take place and the city may be a place working people would want to raise their families again.

Robert Cooley was a cop turned crooked lawyer turned white knight. He brought down a lot of slimy officials. If there were only ten Robert Cooleys instead of just one, we’d still have Meigs Field, far lower taxes and money to improve life in a dying metropolis.

Second City Cop is a true hero.

Secrecy Laws Protects TSA from Exposure of Their Incompetence

Saturday’s Federal Flight Deck Officer incident involving an accidental discharge was the result of administrative bungling rather than a case of a Barney Fife “quick draw” accident.

The first reaction of people to an accidental discharge of a firearm is the perception of deadly horseplay. The problem here is the public and press is being kept in the dark by the TSA, Federal Air Marshall Service and The FAA.

What they won’t tell you is how the TSA forced the specially trained FFDO pilots to use a piece of equipment that is defective in design to secure their side arms.

Any pilot would be fired and worse if he or she are caught talking to the press about the FFDO weapons, equipment or procedures. The TSA has “classified” the information and their stupidity as a national secret.

In the continuing TSA and FAA war against Congress’ law requiring some armed pilots the TSA created every roadblock to safe and effective implementation of the program. Such was the ridiculous padlocked holster that is inherently unsafe to use.

The FFDO procedures require that a combination padlock be placed inside the trigger guard of a loaded firearm. The problem is that the pilot can’t even see the trigger as he places the shackle through the small hole in the holster. If the gun is shifted even slightly the padlock can cause the trigger to be pulled. The holster has to be locked and unlocked every time the FFDO enters or leaves the cockpit. The unnecessary action increases likelihood of a tragedy and an end the FFDO program.

The TSA is not a law enforcement agency like the FBI or Marshall’s service. The TSA is a only political patronage outfit filled with dead end bureaucrats instead of cops.

The only beneficiaries of the bizarre and unorthodox TSA procedures are the enemies of America.

Gun Accident In U.S. Airways Airliner Cockpit Was TSA Engineered!

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—It was only a matter of time before there’d be an accidental, non-negligent discharge of a Federal Flight Deck Officer’s weapon. Saturday a U.S. Airways pilot’s gun discharged on Flight 1536, which left Denver at approximately 6:45am and arrived in Charlotte at approximately 11:51am. The Airbus A319 plane landed safely and thankfully none of the flight’s 124 passengers or five crew members was injured

The insane procedures required by the TSA demands that our pilots to lock and then un-lock their .40 side arms was and is a solid recipe for disaster. Did the TSA deliberately create this bizarre and unconventional Rube Goldberg firearm retention system hoping for this result? The sordid history of the FAA and TSA’s total resistance to the concept of arming pilots to protect Americans is in itself a scandal.

Putting a gun into a holster and then threading a padlock through the trigger and trigger-guard is required every time the pilots enter or leave the cockpit. This kind of silliness has never been forced on any law enforcement or security officers anywhere in the world until now. Before this holster padlock procedure pilots with guns were forced to carry them around in a cumbersome 22 pound vault. The vault caused problems in the confined space of most cockpits.

FFDO pilots need to carry their side arms in conventional concealed holsters and there is no reason for the unnecessary handling of their firearms in the cockpits.

More information can be found here.

Chicago Police Officers Look Like A Major Train Wreck!

Photo “borrowed” from today’s Sun Times…

On the mirrors at the old O'Brien Street, Chicago Police Academy and in all districts there was a slogan, “Does your appearance command respect?” I don’t recognize this dirty dozen but they look like the vagrants I used to lock up for safekeeping.

There’s nothing uniform about these officers except their shameful appearance. J-Fed needs to do what former Superintendant O.W. Wilson did and crack down on the officer’s personal image.

Protective vests should be under the uniform shirts or be less obvious. Those tragically and beyond ugly ball caps would make minimum wage security guards look bad if that's possible.

The proper Chicago Police field cap needs to return to properly groomed heads.

I believe that it’s long overdue for all Chicago officers including supervisors to wear dark blue shirts. Light blue and white shirts stand out like brightly lit targets at night.

I would ask that all the individual officers to please do what the department won’t make them do and clean up this mess on their own.

Penn & Teller Say Gun Control is BULLS*%T!

I found this video again and am reposting it for my readers who have not seen this enlightened examination of gun control

Sara Jane Olson Has Been Returned To Prison!

Days after being set free for 35 year-old crimes connected to her and her terror group, The Symbionese Liberation Army, Sara Jane Olson is back in prison.

Olson who was formerly known as Kathleen Soliah, spent decades on the run and started a new life and family quietly in Minnesota. Olson was captured without incident, entered into a plea agreement and served time as a model inmate.

Olson’s release hit a sour note with LA police officers and the family of a woman murdered during an SLA bank stick-up. Olson was connected to an unexploded bomb placed on a police cruiser.

Corrections officers had prevented Olson from boarding a plane at LAX last evening but she was allowed to return to Palmdale for the night. Olson was re-arrested this morning by corrections officers.

Corrections officials blamed a clerical error that inadvertently reduced Olson’s sentence by a full year. She now won't be eligible for release until March 17, 2009, officials said. I guess the folks on our government's payroll can't do simple math.

I can’t seem figure out how another year will protect us from this 60-Plus year-old woman or do anything more than waste tax money.

Drew Peterson’s Secret Gun!

So a guy convicted of nothing who may be a suspect may have had a gun police missed while serving a search warrant. Peterson’s former friend made that “shocking” claim recently.

Peterson, an honorably retired career cop is under the media and law enforcement microscope because his young wife is missing. There is no probable cause that Peterson has done anything wrong. No evidence of any crime connected to peterson has been uncovered.

The so-called Secret Gun is a tiny and ineffective,.22, offering from North American Arms. . It’s a single action novelty item that’s a lot less deadly than a good knife.

Why was this silliness newsworthy?

Los Angeles' Backward Approach To Protecting Children

Like in other big cities Los Angeles street gang’s members are young. They hang out and recruit new members from schools. They also know school zones are the safest places to kill rivals.

Those kids that resist gang influence can always be found and targeted for retaliation at or near schools. Too many kids have been murdered at or near school property over the years. Murder and armed assault carry huge penalties that don’t seem to slow down the killing.

L.A. City Councilmen Ed Reyes and Jack Weiss are going out of their way to make sure parents and school staff members can’t protect the children with firearms. They want to make sure that mandatory jail terms are given to anyone carrying a firearm in a 1000 foot school zone. What about the fact that there are already serious Federal Laws that are in place duplicating this silliness?

The result of this well-intended foolishness is that the kids in these now enhanced, Gun-Free Zones are softer targets than ever. Gang members who never fear penalties, won’t need to fear some retired cop bringing his or her grandchildren to school stopping an armed assault. Armed criminals love soft targets.

VH1’s,”I know My Kid’s A Star”

I can’t think of a more qualified person to host this show than former child star, DJ, adult actor and now show host Danny Bonaduce. As a kid he seemed to have it all at least while in public view. The kid made us laugh and sometimes we wanted to smack his wisecracking character. We only wanted to smack him because he was doing his job really well. It turned out the kid was smacked around way too much for far too long.

After The Partridge Family, Bonaduce went on to do an episode of Joseph Whambaugh’s Police Story. He was great as a Joey, a confused lad with an empty gun. Bonaduce got work later doing occasional similar guest spots on other shows and then it all slowed down to a trickle.

Not really trained to do anything more than be an actor/performer times were hard. Bonaduce’s money was not well managed and hard times visited this fellow while he was still young. There was never anything wrong with Bonaduce’s acting. He was always a pro.

We all know the hardships Bonaduce had and his brushes with the law. When you’re famous you become a huge target for cops and prosecutors who get their own moment of fame for overly aggressive efforts to run any celebrity through the criminal justice system.

I worked Bonaduce’s defense investigation when a career liar, thief, and transvestite prostitute falsely accused him of felony aggravated assault and robbery. The tabloids had a field day trying to destroy bonaduce.

During my investigation I found a young woman who told me Bonaduce’s accuser savagely attacked her in woman’s restroom breaking numerous bones in her face. The day before the incident with Bonaduce the accuser had lied under oath on an application to obtaine a fraudulent New Mexico driver’s license. The accuser’s Arizona driver’s license had been revoked for repeated DUI convictions in Phoenix.

Bonaduce was allowed to plead out to lesser charges and get probation after the accuser’s credibility was gutted. Phoenix lawyer Richard Gierloff and I worked tirelessly to get Bonaduce a fair day in court. As things happen so often in Hollywood Bonaduce’s second celebrity career got a big publicity boost from that transvestite hooker, Darius Lee Barney.

Bonaduce had horrific problems most of his life. Adjusting to his marriage, normal society and professional demands were huge obstacles. I’m convinced he was a victim of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. I quickly learned that Bonaduce would do anything to help any of the other emotionally wounded former child stars.

One thing for sure Bonaduce will give the children and parents on this reality TV show some valuable insight. There’s no question that Danny Bonaduce can see himself in every one of the children’s eyes on his new show.

I have only two words, Bravo Danny!