By Martin Weil and Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 23, 2008

A man with a gun apparently passed through a security checkpoint at Reagan National Airport over the weekend without being detected, authorities said last night.

A spokesman for the federal Transportation Security Administration said that the screener who was apparently involved was relieved of security duties and that the matter was under investigation.

Before the passenger boarded his flight about 7:30 a.m. Sunday, he realized that he had the gun and returned voluntarily to the checkpoint, which serves gates 23 to 34, said Rob Yingling, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates the airport.

Yingling said that the agency's officers took the gun and issued a summons and that the man was allowed to continue his trip.

Yingling identified the man as Gregory S. Hinkle, 53, of Davis, W.Va., and said he is due in Arlington County General District Court on April 2 on a misdemeanor charge of possessing or transporting a firearm into an airline terminal.

"We don't allow any dangerous weapons in the terminal," Yingling said.

It was unclear whether the gun was on the man's person or in a bag. No description of the firearm was available, and it could not be learned whether it was loaded.

The TSA spokesman said testing shows that the agency has a "very high success rate" in detecting firearms.