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The incident, which happened on December 27, 2008, involved a cover-up and policy violations by Transportation Security Administration managers and remained hidden from public knowledge for three years.

A whistleblower says, "There are people that are in high management at TSA that were involved in a major cover-up."

At the center of our investigation is a man named Mike Hales. The 37-year-old works for the TSA at Sky Harbor. We tried numerous times to talk to him about a serious security breach but he didn't want to talk to us.

On that day, a TSA manager brought a loaded handgun into a security checkpoint in Terminal 4.

Records obtained by 12 News show the breach was "unintentional" but what happened next triggered a high level investigation. That's because Supervisory Transportation Security Officer Mike Hales allowed the TSA manager to simply turn around and take the gun back out, violations of federal policy.

The whistleblower says, "I'm ashamed to have worked there, definitely ashamed and it makes me sick."

According to an internal TSA investigation report obtained by 12 News, several employees violated federal policy. The internal memorandum shows employee Mike Hales violated a policy requiring law enforcement to be called the moment the gun was spotted. What's more, records show there is security video that captured this incident. It does not have audio. Upon viewing the video, a TSA Special Agent documented what happened.

Here's what the report shows the Agent documented:

At 12:11 p.m. the TSA manager enters lane 5 reporting for work. At 12:13 p.m. he puts his briefcase on the conveyor belt for screening. At 12:16 p.m. he enters the checkpoint through the walk-through magnetometer. Then at 12:17 p.m. as the briefcase moves into the X-ray scanner, the TSA manager demonstrates anxiety over his property in the X-ray tube. At 12:17 p.m. a Lead Transportation Security Officer signals to Supervisory Transportation Security Officer Mike Hales, the firearm signal with his hands. At 12:18 p.m. Hales recognizes the employee who brought the gun and responds to him in lane 5. Hales then signals towards the supervisor's desk appearing to stop the required call to the Phoenix Police Department, Airport Bureau.

At 12:19 p.m. Hales takes the briefcase from the X-ray. One minute later, Hales and the TSA manager exit the checkpoint and walk into the airport side of the checkpoint off camera. The TSA manager then walks out of the airport, still carrying the loaded gun with one in the chamber and a magazine.

The whistleblower maintains, "This was a cover-up, this was despicable. It's the most egregious thing I've ever seen while I've been with the TSA."

Emails obtained by 12 News seem to show this was not viewed as a serious matter at the time.

More specifically, in an email from Mike Hales to his boss, Dave Couts, the Assistant Federal Security Director of Screening (AFDS-S) Hales informs him of the gun incident. Couts hardly seems troubled by the news responding, "Thank you for the quick turnaround," Couts wrote, "Will there be cigars needed for your child's birth? A box is on me."

"On a day-to-day basis, TSA was all about schmoozing," countered our whistleblower.

But when a TSA investigator finally learned of the incident, it was no laughing matter.

Documents show he said, "Hales placed the traveling public and his co-workers in danger." And by Hales removing the firearm out of the X-ray it could have accidentally discharged or been misidentified as belonging to the TSA Manager and [sic] it belonged to somebody else in there that meant to do ill intent, harm. He also stated that someone could have grabbed the loaded 9mm pistol from him inside of the checkpoint. He concluded there could have been a lot of various factors.

Another email exchange obtained by 12 News shows another TSA Special Agent wrote, "Dave was attempting an end round on this one." Another investigator responded to that email calling for an investigation. He wrote, "We open cases on Federal Flight Deck Officers all the time, and we need to open one on AFSD-S friends too." AFSD-S was a reference to Couts' position as the Assistant Federal Security Director of Screening.

An internal memorandum containing the findings of the TSA internal investigation reveals why Supervisor Mike Hales broke policy. In his first sworn statement, Hales writes, "I felt that this situation involving upper-management had the potential to give TSA Phoenix yet another public relations black eye. In an effort to avoid bad publicity for TSA, the TSA Manager, me and the checkpoint I told the X-ray operator to release the bag from the X-ray machine."

At the bottom of Hales second sworn statement, he writes, " I can, however, assure you that I did not try and cover-up the incident in question."

However, the X-ray-technician who detected the loaded weapon told investigators he believed no incident report was ever written and there was a concerted effort by TSA Supervisors for this incident to disappear.

We tried to get Dave Couts' side of the story. He told us he is a federal employee and could not discuss the matter. When asked why he sent an email to Mike Hales thanking him for the "quick turnaround" and offering a box of cigars for the birth of his child, he told us, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

After all this, you might think Hales' and Couts' careers could be in jeopardy. According to an internal investigation it was alleged that the Phoenix Screening staff failed to report the incident to the Transportation Security Operations Center, which was in violation of an Operations Directive and no law enforcement agency was notified, which was in violation of the Screening Management Standard Operating Procedures. Furthermore, the document also shows they maintained a detected weapon, which is prohibited. The findings of the TSA investigation show, the TSA manager who brought the gun in, Mike Hales who removed the gun from the X-ray machine and gave it back to the TSA manager, Dave Couts and another Transportation Security Manager all violated federal policies.

One investigator said Hales should be removed from federal service. But he wasn't. Months later Hales was given just a 3 day suspension for his actions that day. We tried to speak with Hales but he had no comment. Hales currently holds a position of greater duties and responsibilities with the TSA. He's employed as a Transportation Security Inspector (Aviation.) His annual salary is $53,605, according to TSA Public Affairs Officer Lorie Dankers.

As for Dave Couts, documents reveal he received a five day suspension in lieu of reprimand. That letter was placed into his personnel file for two years. He's still with the TSA but in a different position. He's working as a Program Analyst and his annual salary according to Dankers, is $114,394.

We made repeated attempts to find out more answers to questions we have about this incident with the TSA. But to no avail, instead the TSA issued us a statement.

"TSA investigated these allegations more than three years ago to ensure the high standards of the agency were met and those responsible were held accountable. The investigation yielded a thorough report and the agency took appropriate action. TSA considers this a closed matter," the statement reads.

TSA has a video showing this entire incident, but they declined to make it available this week for our report. We were told to check back in a few weeks about the status of our request adding that the TSA at Sky Harbor would have to review and process the request before we would obtain anything. 12 News initially submitted a Freedom of Information Act request on December 28, 2011 seeking the video.

As for the whistleblower, he has contacted Senator Jon Kyl's Office and also told them his story. We have been in contact with Kyl's press secretary and were told because of constituent claims and confidentiality issues, they would not be able to publicly discuss the matter with us.