UH-OH

Traveler Passes Through Atlanta TSA Checkpoint With Gun

The agency maintains the Jan. 2 security breach was not due to the partial government shutdown.

A man carrying a gun boarded a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta and flew to Tokyo earlier this month, according to a statement from the Transportation Security Administration. The traveler boarded a plane on Jan. 2 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport with his gun, the TSA said in a statement, without specifying whether the firearm was loaded. Once the passenger landed in Tokyo Narita International airport, he immediately alerted airline workers, who then contacted the TSA, Delta Air Lines said.

TSA determined the security breach was due to a failure in “standard procedures,” and that the incident had nothing to do with the now 24-day government shutdown. “TSA has determined standard procedures were not followed and a passenger did in fact pass through a standard screening TSA checkpoint with a firearm at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on the morning of January 3,” the agency said.“There was not a staffing issue as some are speculating.”