Hotel van driver reports CHQ pilot as drunk.

anthenry said:
Rat out? The guy was going to fly an airplane drunk. I applaud the bus driver. The rest of the crew should be disciplined for not doing anything and allowing him to continue.
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What makes you think that the rest of the crew wasn't with him? And for that matter, what makes you think he was drunk? I would think the police would have arrested him if that was the case, rather than letting the company deal with it ;)

Don't know about you, but waking up at 4AM- I am hardly qualified to determine anyone's level of intoxication. I'm lucky if my shoes match each other.
 
BobDDuck said:
A few years ago we had a captain pull out his FSDO badge and demand a van driver pull over until the cops got there because he thought the driver was drunk. Turns out he wasn't. It was just that the sway bar was broken and it was causing the van to swerve all over the place.
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This would be great for the "most pilots are complete tools" thread elsewhere!
 
BobDDuck said:
A few years ago we had a captain pull out his FSDO badge and demand a van driver pull over until the cops got there because he thought the driver was drunk. Turns out he wasn't. It was just that the sway bar was broken and it was causing the van to swerve all over the place.
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FFDO badge?
 
drunkenbeagle said:
And for that matter, what makes you think he was drunk? I would think the police would have arrested him if that was the case, rather than letting the company deal with it ;)
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What is the BAC limit for riding in a van and walking through an airport?
 
darrenf said:
What is the BAC limit for riding in a van and walking through an airport?
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Probably why he wasn't arrested, as he hadn't operated the aircraft yet or attempted to. I would guess why it became a company problem thereafter. Though the article doesn't specify.
 
MikeD said:
Probably why he wasn't arrested, as he hadn't operated the aircraft yet or attempted to. I would guess why it became a company problem thereafter. Though the article doesn't specify.
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Yeah, that's what I was implying. :)
 
anthenry said:
Rat out? The guy was going to fly an airplane drunk.
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Speculative on soooooo many levels...which is exactly the problem when you empower people well away from the actual issue to throw out these flags, and the system validates it.
 
darrenf said:
What is the BAC limit for riding in a van and walking through an airport?
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If it is duty time as a pilot, it would be a criminal violation of Federal law to attempt to operate an aircraft while intoxicated. The Feds, States, FAA, and company probably all have different definitions of intoxicated though.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
If it is duty time as a pilot, it would be a criminal violation of Federal law to attempt to operate an aircraft while intoxicated. The Feds, States, FAA, and company probably all have different definitions of intoxicated though.
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True, but assuming over the BAC is the case here though, its a company problem if he never made it to the aircraft at all, wouldn't it be?
 
MikeD said:
True, but assuming over the BAC is the case here though, its a company problem if he never made it to the aircraft at all, wouldn't it be?
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I'm going to guess it would depend on the BAC%. Over .10 is intoxicated under federal law. Under .08 in all states I believe. If it was over .04 it is an FAA violation. Let's say it was 0.03% -- that's probably the company's problem. But I'm just speculating, I wasn't there.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
I'm going to guess it would depend on the BAC%. Over .10 is intoxicated under federal law. Under .08 in all states I believe. If it was over .04 it is an FAA violation. Let's say it was 0.03% -- that's probably the company's problem. But I'm just speculating, I wasn't there.
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We're doing pure academic speculation here, of course. I was just wondering how these things are viewed/handled on the company end, as I don't fly 121 so I don't know nor have seen firsthand how these types of things are done on that end.
 
MikeD said:
We're doing pure academic speculation here, of course. I was just wondering how these things are viewed/handled on the company end, as I don't fly 121 so I don't know nor have seen firsthand how these types of things are done on that end.
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Me either, but I'm guessing most of the 121 folks go to great trouble not to find out themselves as well.
 
There are programs this pilot needs to get in immediately. I have several friends that have been in this tough situation and they need to get the help that is out there. The program is quite successful and helps pilots deal with their diseases.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
If it is duty time as a pilot, it would be a criminal violation of Federal law to attempt to operate an aircraft while intoxicated. The Feds, States, FAA, and company probably all have different definitions of intoxicated though.
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The point I was making is he never did attempt to operate the aircraft, at least as far as the information we were given. So, it is now a L.E. issue unless his BAC was too high to be in public.
 
amorris311 said:
There are programs this pilot needs to get in immediately. I have several friends that have been in this tough situation and they need to get the help that is out there. The program is quite successful and helps pilots deal with their diseases.
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So anyone who has a few drinks is immediatly an alcoholic? Guess the one beer every other week for me makes me need to go to an AA meeting. For all we know, this guy had a BAC of ,02, and company policy makes that a rule breaker. Every company I have ever worked at, this is the allowable. So one beer, 4 hours ago and you're over the limit.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
What makes you think that the rest of the crew wasn't with him? And for that matter, what makes you think he was drunk? I would think the police would have arrested him if that was the case, rather than letting the company deal with it ;)

Don't know about you, but waking up at 4AM- I am hardly qualified to determine anyone's level of intoxication. I'm lucky if my shoes match each other.
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What makes me think he was drunk? I guess him failing a blood-alchohol test tipped me off to the idea. And if the crew was with him, they are equally accountable. How is this even a debate?

I function every morning at 4am and haven't mixed up the shoes yet. There's no excuse or justification for failing a blood alchohol test while on your way to fly an airplane. This has become far too common in the industry. As to why the police didn't arrest him, who knows. Maybe because he hadn't operated or attempted to operate the aircraft. Maybe because the police officers had never delt with the situation or received training in this area and had no idea what to do. It's all speculation. And I speculate he will be charged shortly.
 
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