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I had a phone conversation with my mother this morning. She said that on the news, there was a report of a commercial plane ready to take off when they nabbed the pilot and co-pilot for being pretty drunk. That's all I know, she didn't get the name of the airline.

-- Anonymous, July 02, 2002

Answers

I think that was American West. Currently suspended with pay pending investigation.

-- Anonymous, July 02, 2002

It was here in Miami. The cops had the tower order the plane back to the gate, a field sobriety test showed they were over the legal limit.

2 America West pilots found drunk on plane

By David Cázares and Diana Marrero Miami Bureau Posted July 2 2002, 7:56 AM EDT

Two America West Airlines pilots about to fly a taxiing jet from Miami to Phoenix were sent back to the terminal and arrested Monday after a checkpoint worker reported detecting alcohol on their breath.

Their cups of Joe did them in.

link

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-dpilots02jul02 .story?coll=sfla%2Dhome%2Dheadlines

Pilot Thomas Cloyd, 44, and co-pilot Christopher Hughes, 41, both of Gilbert, Ariz., insisted on taking the coffee aboard in apparent violation of a new security measure prohibiting people from taking open food and beverage containers aboard planes. That sparked an argument between the men and the checkpoint worker.

Breathalyzer tests performed by police determined that Cloyd had a blood-alcohol level of .091 and Hughes, .084 -- more than twice the Federal Aviation Administration's limit of 0.04. The legal limit for driving in Florida is .08.

They were charged with operating an aircraft while under the influence, a felony, and operating a motor vehicle under the influence, a misdemeanor. They were released on $7,000 bond each late Monday. Arraignments were set for July 22.

"This is real rare," said Michael Boyd, an aviation consultant based in Golden, Colo. "It's as likely as finding a brain surgeon drunk."

The pilots could face more serious charges, including possible federal criminal charges for jeopardizing passengers. A spokesman for the FAA, which is investigating the incident, said the pilots could lose their FAA certificates.

Cloyd, an America West pilot since 1990, and Hughes, who has flown with the airline since 1999, were arrested about 10:30 a.m. -- after they began to taxi the Airbus A319 toward the runway for the five-hour, non-stop flight, said Juan DelCastillo, a spokesman for Miami-Dade Police.

DelCastillo said the employee notified a supervisor who called airport officials, who in turn called the police. By the time police got involved, the pilots were already on the plane and it had pushed away from the terminal and began to taxi toward the runway, he said.

DelCastillo said police then notified the tower, which ordered the pilots to return to the terminal. Police could not determine whether the coffee was spiked with alcohol because the pilots had thrown out the coffee before police contacted them, he said.

However, DelCastillo said when police gave the pilots field sobriety tests, their glassy eyes and eye movement indicated they were under the influence of alcohol. After the pilots agreed to a breathalyzer test, police took them to the police station at the airport, where they registered as being intoxicated, he said.

The 124 passengers from Flight 556, a full flight which had a scheduled departure time of 10:40 a.m., were rebooked onto other planes from the airline and its competitors, America West spokeswoman Janice Monahan said. She said they were all on their way to their destinations within a few hours. The airline flew a crew to Miami to ferry the plane back to Phoenix.

Monahan said the company, the nation's eighth-largest carrier, is cooperating with investigators.

"If it confirms the results of the breathalyzer, then the individuals will be terminated," Monahan said. "America West has a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol use. It will not be tolerated."

The pilots were suspended with pay pending the results of the investigation, she said.

Under FAA regulations, pilots are prohibited from drinking eight hours before a flight, or if they have a blood alcohol level of .04 percent.

Some airlines have even stricter policies. America West forbids its pilots from drinking 12 hours before they enter the cockpit, Monahan said.

FAA spokesman Christopher White said the screeners deserve credit for detecting the alcohol, even though the pilots made it past them into the plane.

"They deserve a lot of credit for what they did," said White, who said the screeners' only job is to screen passengers, not detain them. "They certainly went above and beyond the call of duty."

Aviation experts say the industry is not plagued by pilots who fly under the influence of alcohol.

"To find a major airline pilot in a position like that, you've got a better chance of winning the lottery," said Boyd, an executive with Braniff until the carrier went out of business in 1982.

Though the incidents are rare, other pilots have been found drunk on the job.

In one of the most embarrassing episodes for the airline industry, a Northwest pilot downed more than 15 rum and colas, then took the controls of a Boeing 727 about six hours later, flying 58 passengers from Fargo, N.D., to Minneapolis-St. Paul in 1990.

The flight landed without incident but pilot Lyle Prouse became the first commercial pilot sent to prison for flying while intoxicated, under a federal law passed in 1986 to crack down on drug abuse in the transportation industry. Prouse, now a recovering alcoholic, regained his wings and honorably retired from the airline.

In January, Northwest Airlines fired a co-pilot after he allegedly flew a DC-9 jet while intoxicated, taking 59 passengers from San Antonio to Minneapolis-St. Paul. The airline did not identify the pilot.

The FAA's review of random tests for alcohol and drug use has found that less than 1 percent of airline pilots have tested positive. Under FAA rules, each year, each airline must randomly test at least 10 percent of its pilots for alcohol and 25 percent for drugs.

An airline likely will suspend or possibly terminate a pilot who tests positive for drugs or alcohol. If that occurs, the FAA requires a pilot to be evaluated to see whether he or she is an alcoholic or dependent on drugs. If so, the pilot's medical certificate, a prerequisite to a license, is suspended.

The pilots unions also have active programs to identify pilots who might have a drinking problem and get them help.

Boyd said the problem of alcohol abuse -- even among pilots entrusted with the lives of their passengers -- will occasionally trouble the industry.

"It's a security threat because we insist upon having humans fly airplanes and we insist upon having humans fix airplanes," Boyd said. "As long as humans are involved we are going to have failures."

David Cázares can be reached at dcazares@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5012.

Copyright © 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel



-- Anonymous, July 02, 2002


Pilots are not supposed to drink within 12 hours of flying. The above is not common, but it ain't unique, neither. Sweetie never did, far as I know, but I've dated other pilots who had been drinking less (sometimes much less) than the requisite 12 hours. It's one reason I don't like to fly :)

-- Anonymous, July 02, 2002

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