Flight Attendant Tries to Bring Loaded Gun Through Airport Security

A Republic Airlines flight attendant was detained and then charged with disorderly conduct after she attempted to pass through security at the Philadelphia International Airport with a loaded .38 revolver in her purse, triggering an incident in which police accidentally discharged the weapon while securing it, authorities said.

According to officials, at 6:33 a.m. today, the flight attendant entered a Terminal C security checkpoint lane with a loaded .38 caliber Smith and Wesson Airweight revolver in her purse.

A Transportation Security Administration employee discovered the gun on the x-ray machine and notified police.

The flight attendant was taken to secondary screening room, where an airport police officer attempted to unload the gun, and it discharged into a wall.

There were no injuries to passengers, employees or police, officials said.

The flight attendant, identified by ABC station WPVI-TV in Philadelphia as Jaclyn Luby, of West Chester, Pa., had a valid Chester County permit to carry a concealed weapon, police said.

The permit was confiscated and forwarded to the Chester County Sheriff, and the weapon - an Airweight revolver - was confiscated by the crime scene unit and transported to for testing.

She was charged with disorderly conduct, as per Airport Unit policy.

The officer who accidentally discharged the flight attendant's gun is on desk duty pending completion of an internal investigation, police said

The Airweight is a small frame, aluminum alloy, short barrel personal defense revolver and is among the most popular of these.