Carriage of accessible weapons

Transportation Security Administration, DHS
(2) For operations under a partial
program under § 1544.101(b) and (c), a
twelve-five program under § 1544.101(d)
and (e), a private charter program
under § 1544.101(f), or a full all-cargo
program under § 1544.101(h) and (i), each
aircraft operator must—
(i) Arrange for law enforcement personnel meeting the qualifications and
standards specified in § 1542.217 of this
chapter to be available to respond to
an incident; and
(ii) Provide its employees, including
crewmembers, current information regarding procedures for obtaining law
enforcement assistance at that airport.
(b) The following applies to operations at airports required to hold security programs under part 1542 of this
chapter. For operations under a partial
program under § 1544.101(b) and (c), a
twelve-five program under § 1544.101(d)
and (e), a private charter program
under § 1544.101(f), or a full all-cargo
program under § 1544.101(h) and (i), each
aircraft operator must—
(1) Arrange with TSA and the airport
operator, as appropriate, for law enforcement personnel meeting the qualifications and standards specified in
§ 1542.217 of this chapter to be available
to respond to incidents, and
(2) Provide its employees, including
crewmembers, current information regarding procedures for obtaining law
enforcement assistance at that airport.

pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with CFR

[67 FR 8364, Feb. 22, 2002, as amended at 71
FR 30510, May 26, 2006]

§ 1544.219 Carriage of accessible weapons.
(a) Flights for which screening is conducted. The provisions of § 1544.201(d),
with respect to accessible weapons, do
not apply to a law enforcement officer
(LEO) aboard a flight for which screening is required if the requirements of
this section are met. Paragraph (a) of
this section does not apply to a Federal
Air Marshal on duty status under
§ 1544.223.
(1) Unless otherwise authorized by
TSA, the armed LEO must meet the
following requirements:
(i) Be a Federal law enforcement officer or a full-time municipal, county, or
state law enforcement officer who is a
direct employee of a government agency.

§ 1544.219

(ii) Be sworn and commissioned to
enforce criminal statutes or immigration statutes.
(iii) Be authorized by the employing
agency to have the weapon in connection with assigned duties.
(iv) Has completed the training program ‘‘Law Enforcement Officers Flying Armed.’’
(2) In addition to the requirements of
paragraph (a)(1) of this section, the
armed LEO must have a need to have
the weapon accessible from the time he
or she would otherwise check the weapon until the time it would be claimed
after deplaning. The need to have the
weapon accessible must be determined
by the employing agency, department,
or service and be based on one of the
following:
(i) The provision of protective duty,
for instance, assigned to a principal or
advance team, or on travel required to
be prepared to engage in a protective
function.
(ii) The conduct of a hazardous surveillance operation.
(iii) On official travel required to report to another location, armed and
prepared for duty.
(iv) Employed as a Federal LEO,
whether or not on official travel, and
armed in accordance with an agencywide policy governing that type of
travel established by the employing
agency by directive or policy statement.
(v) Control of a prisoner, in accordance with § 1544.221, or an armed LEO
on a round trip ticket returning from
escorting, or traveling to pick up, a
prisoner.
(vi) TSA Federal Air Marshal on duty
status.
(3) The armed LEO must comply with
the following notification requirements:
(i) All armed LEOs must notify the
aircraft operator of the flight(s) on
which he or she needs to have the
weapon accessible at least 1 hour, or in
an emergency as soon as practicable,
before departure.
(ii) Identify himself or herself to the
aircraft operator by presenting credentials that include a clear full-face picture, the signature of the armed LEO,

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§ 1544.221

49 CFR Ch. XII (10–1–17 Edition)

and the signature of the authorizing official of the agency, service, or department or the official seal of the agency,
service, or department. A badge, shield,
or similar device may not be used, or
accepted, as the sole means of identification.
(iii) If the armed LEO is a State,
county, or municipal law enforcement
officer, he or she must present an original letter of authority, signed by an
authorizing official from his or her employing agency, service or department,
confirming the need to travel armed
and detailing the itinerary of the travel while armed.
(iv) If the armed LEO is an escort for
a foreign official then this paragraph
(a)(3) may be satisfied by a State Department notification.
(4) The aircraft operator must do the
following:
(i) Obtain information or documentation required in paragraphs (a)(3)(ii),
(iii), and (iv) of this section.
(ii) Advise the armed LEO, before
boarding, of the aircraft operator’s procedures for carrying out this section.
(iii) Have the LEO confirm he/she has
completed the training program ‘‘Law
Enforcement Officers Flying Armed’’
as required by TSA, unless otherwise
authorized by TSA.
(iv) Ensure that the identity of the
armed LEO is known to the appropriate personnel who are responsible
for security during the boarding of the
aircraft.
(v) Notify the pilot in command and
other appropriate crewmembers, of the
location of each armed LEO aboard the
aircraft. Notify any other armed LEO
of the location of each armed LEO, including FAM’s. Under circumstances
described in the security program, the
aircraft operator must not close the
doors until the notification is complete.
(vi) Ensure that the information required in paragraphs (a)(3)(i) and (ii) of
this section is furnished to the flight
crew of each additional connecting
flight by the Ground Security Coordinator or other designated agent at each
location.
(b) Flights for which screening is not
conducted.
The
provisions
of
§ 1544.201(d), with respect to accessible
weapons, do not apply to a LEO aboard

a flight for which screening is not required if the requirements of paragraphs (a)(1), (3), and (4) of this section
are met.
(c) Alcohol. (1) No aircraft operator
may serve any alcoholic beverage to an
armed LEO.
(2) No armed LEO may:
(i) Consume any alcoholic beverage
while aboard an aircraft operated by an
aircraft operator.
(ii) Board an aircraft armed if they
have consumed an alcoholic beverage
within the previous 8 hours.
(d) Location of weapon. (1) Any individual traveling aboard an aircraft
while armed must at all times keep
their weapon:
(i) Concealed and out of view, either
on their person or in immediate reach,
if the armed LEO is not in uniform.
(ii) On their person, if the armed LEO
is in uniform.
(2) No individual may place a weapon
in an overhead storage bin.
§ 1544.221 Carriage of prisoners under
the control of armed law enforcement officers.
(a) This section applies as follows:
(1) This section applies to the transport of prisoners under the escort of an
armed law enforcement officer.
(2) This section does not apply to the
carriage of passengers under voluntary
protective escort.
(3) This section does not apply to the
escort of non-violent detainees of the
Immigration and Naturalization Service. This section does not apply to individuals who may be traveling with a
prisoner and armed escort, such as the
family of a deportee who is under
armed escort.
(b) For the purpose of this section:
(1) ‘‘High risk prisoner’’ means a prisoner who is an exceptional escape risk,
as determined by the law enforcement
agency, and charged with, or convicted
of, a violent crime.
(2) ‘‘Low risk prisoner’’ means any
prisoner who has not been designated
as ‘‘high risk.’’
(c) No aircraft operator may carry a
prisoner in the custody of an armed
law enforcement officer aboard an aircraft for which screening is required
unless, in addition to the requirements

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