The matter was only discovered by the US authorities after the plane landed in Miami, Florida, USA, according to “AFP”, quoting NBC 6,
The passenger spent the four hours of the journey with a pistol packed with five bullets in his pocket.
The TV channel did not specify the date of the accident, but said that the plane took off from Barbados in the Caribbean Sea towards the city of Barbados.
The passenger told US police that he boarded the plane from Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados, with a pistol in his pants pocket.
Police arrested the man and a judge charged him with carrying a weapon in a camouflaged fashion, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison in Florida.
The passenger pleaded not guilty, and he is scheduled to appear in court in mid-December.
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Motley said Friday that she had requested an “emergency report” on the case, pledging that the person or persons responsible for the incident would be held accountable.
“The consequences for the country are grave and enormous,” she added.
The incident constitutes a major security gap for the United States, which has tried to strengthen its border security measures, especially at airports, since the attacks of September 11, 2001, in which members of the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda hijacked civilian aircraft in which they carried out attacks.
Washington, in particular, requires foreign governments to apply American security standards at airports from which direct flights to the United States depart.
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