pilot sentenced for being drunk

[CavePilot]

According to the indictment, facts presented during the trial, and the written opinion of Judge Tunheim, on Dec. 8, 2009, Cope was the co-pilot and first officer on United Express Flight 7687, a commercial flight operated by Shuttle America, Inc., from Austin, Texas to Denver, Colorado.

Co-pilot AND First Officer...this guy was good.

 

[J.Otto]

Breathalyzer keychain

http://www.amazon.com/BreathKey-Breathalyzer-Keychain-Professional-Features/dp/B000EB5MJY

 

[Sig]

Nice, the FO shows up plastered and everyone is blasting the captain. It is one thing to show up a little under 8 hours from being in the bar after a few drinks and still having a little left in your system. But this guy was blowing a 0.94 AFTER flying a leg, which means he showed up for duty pretty well hammered. The only "obvious DB" in this case is the FO. The captain may have been able to try and protect the FO a little better, but he was under no obligation to. I think it is unreasonable to expect a captain to stick his neck out for someone that far out of line.

WELL PUT! Except for one glaring issue.

The dude flew. He's clearly beyond a talking-to at this point, since he's entered the system as a criminal. If he starts looking for a blame game play, he has a perfect one.

Why didn't my captain ensure the safety of the flight I was operating drunk?

Insert deposition here, add a silly CX here, and BAM.

Certainly the worst case scenario, but then again- how many times can you cite "pilot error" as the found cause when it really honestly wasn't? I realize I'm being cynical, but this could be YOU one of these days staring down such a ridiculous barrel.

The ATA collaborate on all sorts of things, from labor tactics to the MEL (haha). Check your FOM (or whatever you call it) for PIC Authority and Responsibility. My wholly owned realigned that at the exact same time as our mainline, and that doesn't happen without management collaboration.

It's a real eye-opener when you see the implications.

 

[ASA_Aviator]

WELL PUT! Except for one glaring issue.

The dude flew. He's clearly beyond a talking-to at this point, since he's entered the system as a criminal. If he starts looking for a blame game play, he has a perfect one.

Why didn't my captain ensure the safety of the flight I was operating drunk?

Insert deposition here, add a silly CX here, and BAM.

Certainly the worst case scenario, but then again- how many times can you cite "pilot error" as the found cause when it really honestly wasn't? I realize I'm being cynical, but this could be YOU one of these days staring down such a ridiculous barrel.

The ATA collaborate on all sorts of things, from labor tactics to the MEL (haha). Check your FOM (or whatever you call it) for PIC Authority and Responsibility. My wholly owned realigned that at the exact same time as our mainline, and that doesn't happen without management collaboration.

It's a real eye-opener when you see the implications.

The CA reported it as soon as he was aware. Do you think he CA is responsible to report things he is unaware of? Omniscient captains, the newest trend in aviation!

 

[Sig]

The CA reported it as soon as he was aware. Do you think he CA is responsible to report things he is unaware of? Omniscient captains, the newest trend in aviation!

STOP! STOP NOW!

You are making sense. Report immediately to the company shrink for an eval.


In reality, you're right. In this case, it took HOW long to "smell" the issue? Seriously, we are being given more and more responsibility and liability, and less and less power.

Such a gimped up game.

 

[N813CA]

Fo shows up..... How about the captain shows up. Can happen ya know.

 

[landlover]

Exactly. Figure he showed up on the curb maybe 45 minutes before the flight, plus a 2-hour flight AUS-DEN, plus another 15 minutes to the testing office. 0.94 three hours after showing up at work? The captain isn't the DB here...

unless he was boozing in the van, in the crew room, in the lav after take off etc...

 

[Raoul Duke]

Whole situation could have been avoided with Tic-Tacs

 

[CA1900]

Whole situation could have been avoided with Tic-Tacs

Uhhhh... no, it couldn't.

 

[jrmyl]

I agree that the FO bears the full blame for this. The captain spoke up as soon as he could.

My problem with this is the sentence. 6 months prison time? I can understand losing your job and your license, but not 6 months. You see in the news several times a year people who get caught drinking and driving for the 5th or 6th time. What do they get? Nothing other than a fine. I haven't seen one with jail time other than a few weeks of time served. This sentence is totally out of line in my opinion. Fire him and suspend his license. That should have been it.

 

[AGVMIA]

Over 8k hours, mostly PIC jet, airlines, etc, would NEVER throw a guy under the bus like that! Yes, the FO was intoxicated, but, give him a chance to bow out before you destroy his life. Now, if you give him a chance and he still acts stupid, that's another story. People do stupid things and much worse things in life with much lesser consequences, so while he was definitely wrong, you don't destroy someone's life like that. Compasion is something missing in today's world.

 

[N813CA]

At my 10 years of Part 121 experience as an FO. I 100% agree before the flight. After the flight It depends. That was a long flight and for him to still blow that high heck the crew should have sinced it before hand.

 

[regionalcap]

I agree that the FO bears the full blame for this. The captain spoke up as soon as he could.

My problem with this is the sentence. 6 months prison time? I can understand losing your job and your license, but not 6 months. You see in the news several times a year people who get caught drinking and driving for the 5th or 6th time. What do they get? Nothing other than a fine. I haven't seen one with jail time other than a few weeks of time served. This sentence is totally out of line in my opinion. Fire him and suspend his license. That should have been it.

Would you change your mind if you had a son or daughter on that flight? He put many lives at risk.

 

[CA1900]

My problem with this is the sentence. 6 months prison time? I can understand losing your job and your license, but not 6 months. You see in the news several times a year people who get caught drinking and driving for the 5th or 6th time. What do they get? Nothing other than a fine.

This isn't driving a Honda Civic home from the bar. This is driving a planeload of paying passengers in an airliner. There is a higher standard expected, and a lower alcohol limit in the law.

The America West Captain from the Miami incident got 5 years in prison; the FO got 2.5 years. And they didn't actually get in the air.

6 months was a gift. I hope he'll get help.

 

[OPECJet]

FO definitely is to blame. If you're the cap'n and find a drunk FO before the flight, what do you do? If you find out during / after what do you do? That''s all I'm sayin'. Not defending the FO for showing up drunk.