Hotel van driver reports CHQ pilot as drunk.

MikeD

MikeD

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(CNN) -- A Chautauqua Airlines pilot was kept off a flight in Omaha, Nebraska, Thursday morning after he failed a blood-alcohol test, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Authorities said they were tipped off by a hotel shuttle bus driver, who called airport police to report he suspected the pilot was drunk.

FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said the agency is investigating the incident.
The male pilot, whose identity was not released, was scheduled to fly Frontier Flight 1894 from Omaha to Milwaukee at 6 a.m., according to the airline. Both Chautauqua and Frontier are owned by Republic Airways Holdings, Inc.

But shortly before the flight, a shuttle bus driver called the Eppley Airfield Airport Police to report his concerns about the pilot, said Chris Martin, director of operations for the Omaha Airport Authority.
"The pilot did make it through the checkpoint and he was met by our police officers near the gate of departure," Martin said.

Airport police talked to the pilot and handed the investigation over to Frontier Airlines, as well as notifying the FAA, Martin said......(continued)
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Story here:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/16/travel/suspected-drunk-pilot/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
 
If he really was intoxicated, there will be an arrest report soon. I would think that would have shown up already. The article did not say he was arrested.
 
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.
 
Hacker15e said:
I'm not sure how I feel about empowering van drivers to rat out pilots.
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Half of my van drivers appear to be drunk. Time to tattle!

That said, I don't see that he was specially "empowered". Anyone could have dropped a dime on the cheap, non-tipping jerk.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
Pay attention! This is why you should always, always, tip your van driver.
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And be nice to your hotel.

There's been some stories about the hotel watching crew members come in late and intoxicated then making the phone call to operations.

Serious as a heart attack. I know one of the "victims".
 
Doug Taylor said:
There's been some stories about the hotel watching crew members come in late and intoxicated then making the phone call to operations.

Serious as a heart attack. I know one of the "victims".
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I love going drinking with my boss.

"Hello Mr. xxxxx, your pilots stumbled in drunk at 3 am last night. Just thought I'd let you know."
-"I KNOW! Those • left me at the bar by myself!"
 
F9DXER said:
Of course all the tv reports state a Frontier pilot. Somethings never change
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Perhaps a little "Gallows Humor" here, but I've been at plenty of bars when someone seemingly fresh out of college is claiming to be a senior captain for the mainline carrier I work for! :)
 
anthenry said:
Rat out? The guy was going to fly an airplane drunk.
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We don't actually know that yet. He may very well have been drunk, and then the van driver did the right thing. However, until we get details as to what he actually blew. The article doesn't actually mention that part.

Boris Badenov said:
Half of my van drivers appear to be drunk. Time to tattle!
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A few years ago we had a captain pull out his FFDO 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.
 
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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So the score is 1 and 1 now?
 
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