Posted on 07/01/2002 3:58:15 PM PDT by Lazamataz
The breathalyzers for both of these pilots was .08 according to news reports I have read today. That is not drunk.
Still, the pilots broke one of strictest rules in aviation - the "24 hour" rule. Even if they were caught having just one beer 12 hours before the flight, it is enough to cost them their jobs. All pilots have this drummed into their heads - that there is a zero tolerance policy for drinking alcohol 24 hours before your flight. It may be a dumb rule but nevertheless, that is no excuse for breaking it. Pilots are very highly compensated and they get plenty of "down time" between duty cycles to hit the bars all they want. So it looks like they made their own beds here. They will probably never work in the business again. Time to polish up that resume and get a new career.
Pilots are glorified truck drivers anyway. It is so easy to pilot a plane that even 13-year-olds can master it. Any stewardess can learn to be a good pilot. But many pilots can never be a stewardess - they just don't have the patience to put up with all the crap that a stewardess has to put up with.
Not really, but he had a hard time staying in his airlane.
And he was doing 650 in a 400 mph zone.
Not a chance. They have it a hell of a lot easier than truck drivers.
He hasn't flown since leaving the military in the early 70's.
Drunk Driving at 30,000 feet with a few hundred people in the trunk had better be crime worthy of severe punishment.
I hear you. I recently drove cross-country and couldn't believe that there aren't more accidents involving tractor-trailers. Cars would be constantly shifting lanes in front of them and slowing down, or tailgating them where they couldn't see them. It must be aggravating as hell to be a truck driver.
Commercial pilots got it made. They have air traffic controllers keeping airspace around them free of such distractions. All they have to do is twist a few controls here and there and set everything to autopilot the rest of the way. Due to the constant traffic and unpredictable behavior of the cars around them, truck drivers never get to use their "cruise-control" except maybe late at night when they are in the middle of nowhere.
I'm not bashing commercial airline pilots. I'm sure they put in a lot of hours learning to master all those dials and controls. But I do think their job is overrated. It not rocket science and just about anybody could do it (with the proper training).
Of course, that could be said of most jobs, including my own.
By ALEX VEIGA
.c The Associated Press
MIAMI (AP) - Two America West pilots at the helm of a Phoenix-bound jetliner were ordered to return to the airport terminal moments before takeoff Monday and were arrested for being legally drunk, police said.
The pilots were charged with a felony count of operating an aircraft under the influence and operating a motor vehicle under the influence, police said.
Both have been suspended with pay pending an investigation by the airline, said Patty Nowack, an America West spokeswoman.
Miami-Dade police Detective Juan DelCastillo said security screeners at Miami International Airport first noticed a whiff of alcohol on the men when the pilots tried to bring cups of coffee through the checkpoint.
The screeners alerted police, but by the time officers arrived, the plane had already left the gate. The airport tower ordered the plane back to the terminal and the pilots were given a cursory sobriety test, DelCastillo said.
The men were then asked to take a breath test and agreed. Both registered blood-alcohol levels above .08, Florida's legal limit for operating machinery, DelCastillo said.
Pilot Thomas Cloyd, 44, had a .091 blood-alcohol level, while Christopher Hughes registered .084, police said.
The pilots couldn't be reached for comment Monday; they were being held by police pending processing. It wasn't immediately clear if they had obtained attorneys.
Cloyd has worked for America West since 1990. Hughes joined the airline in January 1999, Nowack said. Both pilots have good working records, she said.
It was the pilots' first flight of the day, she said.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.
07/01/02 19:26 EDT
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For me ..this would be less than 2 beers....maybe one.........
Then why don't the airlines just get their pilots off the street? They could really save some bucks.
Believe me, they would if they could. And they would find plenty of qualified people. But the American flying public would not fly an airline that hired their pilots this way. Most people flying a commercial jet want to feel assured that their pilots are "professionals" who have thousands of flying hours under their belts before they even step into a commercial aircraft. Whether this way of thinking is justified or not is not the point. The consumer sets the rules in the marketplace and that is that.
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