American idiot found with a loaded pistol at Sydney Airport

They are everywhere.

Even Sydney Airport is not safe from gun-toting American idiots preserving their "freedoms".

An American man carrying a loaded automatic pistol in his carry-on baggage was arrested at Sydney International Airport (above) earlier this year and appeared in Sydney's Central Local Court last week, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) reported.

AFP officers were called to a security screening area of the airport in March after a worker monitoring an X-ray machine detected a suspected handgun in the 47-year-old man’s carry-on baggage.

Police inspected the bag and found a loaded Ruger pistol, which they seized. The man was stopped from boarding a flight to the United States and charged with possessing an unauthorised pistol contrary to section 7(1) of the Firearms Act 1996 (NSW) and carrying weapons through a screening point contrary to section 47(3) of the Aviation Transport Security Act 2004 (Commonwealth).

You have to wonder what style of moron would attempt to carry a gun onto a plane, but....

The man pleaded guilty to both charges was convicted and sentenced on the first charge to a 12-month community corrections order. On the second charge, he was sentenced to a 12-month good behaviour bond with a $500 surety under section 20(1)(a) of the Crimes Act 1914 (Commonwealth).

AFP Sydney Airport Police Commander Superintendent Matthew Parsons said in a statement: “This incident had the potential to have deadly consequences for other travellers and airport customers even if the weapon had been discharged accidentally.”

What is surprising is how little attention the incident attracted. 

Sorry: Your pilots are not properly trained

Imagine flying with an airline whose pilots are not properly trained?

Sounds like a nightmare, right?

But this week India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) barred 90 SpiceJet pilots from operating Boeing 737 Max aircraft after finding they had not been adequately prepared for the job, the Press Trust of India reported.

DGCA has issued show-cause notices to both SpiceJet and training organisation CSTPL for not giving proper training to 90 pilots on the 737 Max simulator, officials said.

The officials said the stick shaker - a piece of equipment that vibrates when the aircraft is unable to lift itself - was not functioning in the Max simulator of CAE Simulation Training Pvt Ltd (CSTPL) when the pilots were being trained.

SpiceJet decided to continue training its pilots at the facility Delhi despite knowing that equipment at the said training centre was faulty, The Indian Express reported. 

A SpiceJet spokesperson said, "We have received a communication from the regulator on the matter and the airline shall submit its reply within the specified period."

How very encouraging.

"We would like to reiterate that safety and security of our operations and passengers are of utmost importance which is manifested in our outstanding track record. None of our operations are compromised and they are in line with the international safety standards," the spokesperson added.

The 90 pilots will now have to undergo training again in an approved manner.

The Boeing 737 Max planes were grounded in India by the DGCA on March 13, 2019, three days after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max aircraft near Addis Ababa which killed 157 people.

The ban on the planes was lifted in August last year after the DGCA was satisfied with US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing's necessary software modifications to the aircraft.

Proper pilot training on the simulator was also among the conditions set by the DGCA for removing the ban on the Max planes. The pilots continue to remain available for other Boeing 737 aircraft.

SpiceJet is an Indian low-cost airline based in Gurgaon, Haryana. It is the second largest airline in the country by number of domestic passengers.