FBI: Airline worker helped get gun on plane

US Airways employee swapped carry-on bags with friend to bypass security

Top slideshows

Getty Images	The Big Apple Long referred to as the center of American business, New York is a melting pot of cultures and landscapes. Take a visual tour of some of the Big Apple’s most famous attractions.
Lonely Planet Images	Hawaiian paradise The Hawaiian Islands are the perfect vacation destination for travelers of all types.
Lonely Planet Images	National spectacles Nearly 400 national parks can be found all across America, and feature breathtaking vistas, rock formations millions of years old, and more.

updated 7:29 p.m. ET June 4, 2009

PHILADELPHIA - The FBI charged a US Airways employee with helping his roommate get a concealed, semiautomatic handgun onto a plane departing Philadelphia early Thursday.

Customer service agent Roshid Milledge switched black carry-on bags with passenger Damien Young at the gate so Young could board the 7 a.m. flight to Phoenix with the unloaded 9 mm weapon, the FBI said in an affidavit.

Young, 29, was moving to Phoenix and had asked Milledge about the procedures for transporting guns. Milledge, 38, instead agreed to carry the bag through an employee entrance so it would not be screened by security.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

An alert fellow passenger saw the switch and, sensing that Milledge seemed "fidgety," raised concerns. Young, already on the plane, allegedly denied to a US Airways manager that he had switched bags with anyone. The plane then started to taxi, but was soon called back to the gate so Young could be removed.

He then admitted the bag was his and both men gave statements, the FBI said. Milledge told agents he had grabbed the wrong laptop bag from their Philadelphia home that morning and was switching it back.

The gun is registered to Young, and he had a valid permit to carry it, authorities said.

The men were in federal custody late Thursday with court appearances expected in the next few days. Neither had a listed telephone number, and they did not appear to be represented by counsel.

The Transportation Security Administration declined comment because of the FBI investigation, spokeswoman Ann Davis said.

US Airways Flight 1195 departed Philadelphia several hours later. In a statement, the Tempe, Ariz.-based airline said only that additional passenger screening took place "after a concern was raised about a carry-on bag."

"We are cooperating with investigators fully and take security considerations very seriously," said the statement issued by spokesman Morgan Durrant.

Discuss on Newsvine

Are the new passport regulations a good idea?
What irritating behaviors have you seen on flights?
What scanning method do you prefer at the airport?