Airtran Pilot/FFDO Arrested: Blows .05 in MSP

[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