SWA Pilot on paid leave pending alcohol investigation

[Pervis]

Reading some of these posts makes me glad I don't have to rely on you guys to be my "fair and impartial" jurors.

 

[hockeypilot44]

Lets say that I walk out of a bar and head to my car. You see me stumble and say "are you drunk?". I then go call a taxi to take me home. Did I do the right thing?


But the key thing with this pilot, is he did not test drunk. Someone said he smelled of alcohol....but he had called in sick before anyone got to him. He was told by his CP to go back to the hotel and get better.

All you guys want to do is argue with everyone...TSA, passengers, etc. Take a lesson from this guy....walk away and call in sick.

The answer to your car story is yes. You either drink and drive or you don't. If you called a cab, you did the right thing.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Homeboy was plastered and got lucky by calling in, just in time. If he's off the clock, no need to do a breathe or blood test. That's why he was released.

How about an SWA brand of Peanut Butter or maybe microbrew. Kinda like Neuman's own....

 

[satpak77]

just a bunch of SWA wanna-be's who are salivating at the idea of a SWA pilot walking away in cuffs.

sad sad

remember, perception IS reality. He was in uniform, and for whatever reason, the odor of alchohol was on his breath. Passengers saw this.

If he still flew, while factually not drunk (mouthwash?) or indeed not even having consumed alchohol, but still climbed into the cockpit, major PR disaster, even if for a fact clean and sober.

He did the proper thing. He did not conceal or lie to Chief Pilot or the responding police officer. He did not become hostile towards TSA. He did not "insist" on taking the controls and continuing to the jet.

but of course, on flightinfo, do the right thing and it is the wrong thing.

this guy will KEEP his job and enjoy many more years of SWA

 

[Amish RakeFight]

this guy will KEEP his job and enjoy many more years of SWA and partying hard

Right on!

If there ever was a reason for a clip-on tie. Makes it much easier to rip off in a hurry.

 

[Whine Lover]

If the individual was so innocent why didn't he just tell the passenger to either A) watch his mouth or B) make an issue of it and delay the flight for a Breathalyzer?

If you are 100% innocent:

-Why escape and evade?

-Why call in sick?

How many times have you had a passenger make a stupid remark about "hope you guys are sober" or "get enough sleep last night?" or some other such equally ignorant thing?

Most of us either just ignore it, tell the individual that it is not a joking matter and put them in there place or, in the extreme, make an issue of it by asking for a Breathalyzer and testing out at a BAC of 0.00 ?

I hope the pilot in question slides, but I am still shaking my head at his course of action... which is the ONLY reason his name all over the Media.

Makes no sense to me.... Other than, he was "guilty as charged" and he knew it.

Doesn't mean he was drunk, doesn't mean he was above 0.02. Doesn't even make him a Bad Guy. It just means that he knew he had "partied hard" and wanted out of the situation ASAP.

?

"There, but for the Grace of God, ...."

-------------------------------------------------

The 70's must have been so much better... Drink like a fish, blow a doobie on the beach, bang a hippie chick F/A without fear of dying from AIDS, toot a lil' Blow as a morning pick me up, waltz past security (carrying your pistol in case of hijacking ) by flashing your ID, and then grab ahold of four DC-8 throttles at 6am so you could do a Max. Power, Ball Blaster, Ear-Splitting, Dawn departure with no noise limits, even while spewing trails of smoke and soot all over the beautiful neighborhoods below.

Sigh.....Never again.

Those were the Days.

But then all those alcohol and drug related crashes occured (?) and, Thank God, now we have Drug and Alcohol Testing and the TSA.

Right?

YKMKR

 

[hockeypilot44]

Has there ever been a 121 aircraft crash due to one of the pilots being drunk? I thought that is why there were originally two of us. So we could cover for each other.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Has there ever been a 121 aircraft crash due to one of the pilots being drunk? I thought that is why there were originally two of us. So we could cover for each other.

One of the best observations yet. :beer:

 

[Coool Hand Luke]

don't you mean torpedo induced. an enema is fluid induced. a torpedo would be a purple domed hi speed tube

Everyone in here is looking at you wondering why you know so much about it. Hmmmm.

 

[satpak77]

Doesn't mean he was drunk, doesn't mean he was above 0.02. Doesn't even make him a Bad Guy. It just means that he knew he had "partied hard" and wanted out of the situation ASAP.



YKMKR

So

- We agree that he was probably not drunk

- We agree he prob is not a bad guy

- And we (ahem...) agree that he recogized a dicey situation and wanted out of it (mission accomplished)

so that should just about put this to bed then...

MODS: Request thread re-title to:

"Guy makes stupid mistake, recognizes it, and decides on another course of action before he gets himself or others in trouble, then is bashed on flightinfo for 5+ pages for taking proper course of action, which was done after honest disclosure to police and his own management"