Airtran Pilot/FFDO Arrested: Blows .05 in MSP

[SEVEN]

Alleged drunk AirTran pilot arrested at Minneapolis airport9:44 AM, May 16, 2011

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The captain of an AirTran flight leaving Minneapolis for Milwaukee was arrested Saturday. According to airport spokesperson Pat Hogan, a TSA manager smelled alcohol on the pilot and called airport police.

They gave the captain a breathalyzer test and found the captain's blood alcohol level was .05 percent which was above the legal limit of .04 percent for commercial pilots.

In a written statement, AirTran said the captain was removed from the airplane and was replaced with another pilot. The incident delayed the flight by 35 minutes and no passengers were harmed, according to the AirTran.

The captain is a Federal Flight Deck Officer which means he is authorized to carry a firearm on the plane.

AirTran says they don't know if the pilot was armed during the arrest. The captain was released and the incident is now under investigation and charges are possible.

AirTran says the pilot will not be flying any airplanes during the investigation.

 

[Fubijaakr]

Oops.

 

[Taco Rocket]

Those crazy regional pilots!

 

[Tweaker]

0.05% is NOT drunk. This was clearly a major error is judgement and poor behavior.

Perspective - two drinks = 0.05%. This man will pay heavily for this slight miscalculation.

 

[Hose A. Jiminez]

Let's not let this thread get out of hand.

 

[Lear70]

Let's not let this thread get out of hand.

It's FlightInfo... good luck with that.

 

[CA1900]

The incident delayed the flight by 35 minutes and no passengers were harmed....

I so hate the press.

Perspective - two drinks = 0.05%.

Well, two drinks left in his system is about that. The bigger question is how many he actually had, and/or when he stopped.

 

[jonjuan]

I so hate the press.



Well, two drinks left in his system is about that. The bigger question is how many he actually had, and/or when he stopped.

Agreed-Having 2 drinks right away and blowing a .05 is one thing, being .20 8-hours prior (assuming he stopped 8-hours prior) is another (The body metabolizes about 1 drink or .03/hour). Talking about about an airline CA showing up to work legally drunk is blowing things out of proportion? Would you want your family on that plane?

 

[LearLove]

merging with SWA and having to pay for your 73 type would cause you guys to drink also.

just kidding - really though hope it's a different story or the guy gets help if it's true.

 

[Beetle007]

That’s why you should never use mouthwash, toothpaste, or dental floss. You never know how those things will screw up the breathalyzer tests. Thats why my company prohibits flying within 24 hours after a dental cleaning.

 

[flyingitalian]

We are pilots, lets not show up to work drunk, or very hung over, because this is what happens. Second, lets see what the actual blood alcohol level is, breathalyzers are inaccurate and faulty. Id also be interested in the brand of breathalyzer that was used here.

 

[LearLove]

That’s why you should never use mouthwash, toothpaste, or dental floss. You never know how those things will screw up the breathalyzer tests. Thats why my company prohibits flying within 24 hours after a dental cleaning.

my dentist told me that you would have to drink (as in swallow) several ounces of mouthwash and take a breathalyzer w/in minutes to even get it to register. just what I was told a few years back.

and "never use... toothpaste, or dental floss" - what?

 

[400ADude]

What a disgusting event.

 

[DieselDragRacer]

Prolonged exposure to solvents such as acetone, toluene and paint thinner can cause one to register way too high on a breathalyzer. Many a car painter has used this as defense in DUI trial by jury and won.

This has been on George Stein's site forever:

State v. D.C.
State Court of Clayton County

The Defendant was a commercial airline pilot. Previously, he was a fighter pilot of the U.S. Navy with numerous successful missions over North Vietnam. At the time of his arrest for DUI, he had no prior criminal record.
On the night in question, the arresting officer was dispatched to the scene of an accident on the outer wall of an exit on Highway 285. Unbeknownst to the responding officer, the radio dispatcher had given an improper location of the accident. The evidence showed that due to this mistake, it took police almost an hour to arrive at the scene.

Upon arrival, the officer testified that the Defendant was injured, disoriented and had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. A positive reading on the alco-sensor along with several broken beer containers located outside the vehicle confirmed the officer's belief that alcohol had been consumed by the Defendant. Based on that belief, an arrest was made. Following the arrest, the Defendant submitted to a breath test on the Intoxilyzer 5000 with the result of .155.

At pre-trial motions, defense counsel argued that the Intoxilyzer 5000 machine was not properly approved via the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The judge ruled that although the State of Georgia had not complied with all the APA rules in adopting the machine, the breath test of .155 was nevertheless admissible. Defense counsel was granted a certificate of Immediate Review. After almost a year, the Court of Appeals held that even though all the APA rules were not complied with, the Defendant's breath test was still admissible because the State had "substantially complied" with the rules. Consequently, the case was sent back down to the Clayton County State Court for trial after a lengthy delay.

The theory of the Defendant's case was that indeed, no alcohol was consumed by the Defendant prior to or during driving the car. Rather, alcohol was only consumed after the accident to quell the pain resulting from the Defendant breaking his hand.

At trial, the most devastating testimony against the State came when the Defendant took the witness stand. His highly emotional testimony confirmed that he had only consumed alcohol after the accident to alleviate the pain in his hand that had become unbearable during the lengthy wait for the police to arrive at the scene. The Defendant further told the jury that this sort of "pain management" behavior was consistent with his military pilot's training in Vietnam.

During cross examination, the Defendant remained adamant about his innocence and in a credible fashion withstood a barrage of critical questions presented by the prosecutor.

After a two day trial, the jury deliberated for 25 minutes. They found the Defendant not guilty of two counts of DUI and one count of Failure to Maintain Lane. At the conclusion of the trial, the Solicitor expressed her disbelief in the verdict with the members of the jury. The jurors politely informed her that they found the Defendant's testimony to be "perfectly credible."

The Defendant was represented by GACDL member George Stein of Atlanta.

 

[bluechunks]

...exposure to solvents such as acetone...

+1

It turns out that the human body itself produces a large amount of acetone when a person follows an extreme low-carb diet (i.e. "protein breath") and most breathalyzers cannot distinguish between acetone and alcohol.

Here's a real life example of a Virgin Atlantic pilot wrongfully accused but later vindicated:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6535517.stm

 

[rajflyboy]

You named the thread wrong

should have been:

SOUTHWEST PILOT arrested for being DRUNK

 

[Bob Dylan]

Come on Trannies. You're certainly not adding any value to the SWA brand with these kinds of headlines. If you want to enter the big time finally, you better start acting like it. Don't make GK regret his purchase.

 

[flyingitalian]

You named the thread wrong

should have been:

SOUTHWEST PILOT arrested for being DRUNK

You mean Guadalupe Pilot

 

[jonjuan]

+1

It turns out that the human body itself produces a large amount of acetone when a person follows an extreme low-carb diet (i.e. "protein breath") and most breathalyzers cannot distinguish between acetone and alcohol.

Here's a real life example of a Virgin Atlantic pilot wrongfully accused but later vindicated:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6535517.stm

Hopefully for him, a low carb diet gave him a false-positive. Ever get within 8 feet of someone on a strict low-carb diet? It'll melt your eyebrows. uke:

 

[waveflyer]

Well- got my first report to a mod-
Keep SLI out of this please. Just like every time, this is industry stuff- not political- there's not an airline out there that doesn't have a majority of pilots who have a few on layovers-
And good.

More demonization of drugs and alcohol-
Remember there has never been an airline accident where alcohol was even a ancillary factor. This is all about PR- not evidence