Jacksonville, FL – Pilot Took Passenger’s iPod

Jacksonville, FL – A Mesa Air pilot is accused of stealing a passenger's iPod at a security checkpoint at Jacksonville International Airport.

Police said Christopher Newton was spotted on camera on taking an iPod out of someone else's container while going through a security checkpoint.

A police officer was summoned after the passenger reported to the Transportation Security Administration that his iPod had been taken at the security checkpoint.

A TSA agent showed the officer a tape of an airline pilot placing a container, used to hold passenger's personal items during screening, over another container, then removing an item from the lower container. The top container was used to conceal his actions. The pilot then placed the item that he had removed into his computer bag.

Newton was in the cockpit of United Express Flight 7332 when officers found him and asked him to deplane. He admitted to having the iPod in his possession, but he claimed he took the iPod because it would just be confiscated by airport employees.

Newton, on police order, returned to the cockpit, retrieved the iPod and handed it over to police. Because his flight was 15 minutes late, police allowed him to continue on flying the plane. [KHBS]