Officials investigate claims that a passenger carried a loaded handgun on an American Airlines flight to Miami

• An 83-year-old man was accused by police of carrying a loaded gun on an American Airlines flight.
• The man flew from Barbados to Miami, NBC 6 and The Washington Post reported.

Authorities on Friday were investigating claims that a man carried a loaded handgun in his pocket on an American Airlines flight.

NBC 6 and The Washington Post reported that police said an 83-year-old man, who was flying from Barbados to Miami, had a gun with five 32-caliber rounds in its chamber.

According to NBC 6, a Miami-Dade police report stated that when the passenger landed at Miami International Airport, the weapon was discovered by security officials before he transferred on to an Orlando flight.

The man was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed weapon, the report added.

The incident, which reportedly happened in November, came to light following the suspect's initial court date. He entered a not guilty plea and his next court appearance is scheduled to take place in mid-December, per NBC 6.

A TSA spokeswoman told The Washington Post: "This is a rarity, and one we take quite seriously. It highlights the reason why we do rescreen international passengers before they connect to a domestic flight in the United States."

The TSA is sending its own team to the Caribbean country to evaluate what happened, per NBC 6.

Barbados police, Miami-Dade police, American Airlines, and the TSA did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

In a separate incident that also occurred in November, a passenger "lunged" into his bag and discharged a gun after a TSA officer spotted it at Atlanta airport, Insider's Michelle Mark reported. The passenger fled the scene with the gun, following its discovery, TSA federal security director Robert Spinden told reporters at a press conference.

Last year, a passenger on a British Airways flight found a gun that belonged to the bodyguard of former UK Prime Minister David Cameron in the plane's toilet, Insider's Mia Jankowicz reported.