Pilots accused of being drunk in cockpit indicted

CNN ^ | July 8, 2004 | N/A

[Archangelsk]

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Two former America West Airlines pilots surrendered Thursday on federal charges of being under the influence of alcohol while they were behind the controls of a passenger aircraft.

Capt. Thomas Cloyd and co-pilot Christopher Hughes appeared Thursday afternoon before a U.S. magistrate and were released on $100,000 bond each. The federal grand jury indictment was unsealed Wednesday.

If convicted, each man could be sentenced to as many as 15 years in prison and fined up to $250,000.

Both men were declared indigent by the magistrate and were given public defenders.

James Rubin, an attorney who has defended Hughes, will remain on the case as court-appointed counsel. "My client is entitled to a presumption of innocence at this point," he said.

Federal law prohibits pilots from consuming alcohol in the eight hours before a flight. Videotaped evidence showed the men drinking in a Miami bar six hours before their scheduled departure.

On July 1, 2002, at Miami International Airport, they were at the controls of their taxiing aircraft -- a Miami-to-Phoenix flight carrying 124 passengers -- when Miami-Dade County police recalled the plane.

Both men were arrested. A security guard had called police after seeing the pilots going through a checkpoint.

The indictment was another step in the two-year legal saga that has seen the case bounce from state to federal court and now back.

The state of Florida is continuing its battle for the right to prosecute the two men on charges of operating an aircraft while intoxicated. Arguments were heard by a U.S. Appeals Court in May and a ruling is pending.

Last summer, a federal judge in Miami ruled that the state could not prosecute the two pilots and dismissed Florida's charges against them.

[Archangelsk]

Throw the effing book at them say I. Morons.

[eternity]

Gee whiz can't even even hire a attorney. Excuse me while I ponder the next time I fly commercial.