Skywest crew caught drinking, not thinking

Cal Goat

Cal Goat

Prestige Worldwide™
What a disgrace to the Mormon Air Force...

http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/content/co-pilot-tests-positive-alcohol-skywest-flight-bemidji-airport

A SkyWest Airlines co-pilot and flight attendant have been suspended without pay after police discovered alcohol in their system before their flight was scheduled to leave Bemidji for Minneapolis Thursday morning.
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Police were called to Bemidji Regional Airport at 5:19 a.m. Thursday after Hampton Inn and Suites employees contacted the airport and said the flight staff had been drinking there and that they could smell alcohol on them, according to a police incident report. Airport employees could smell alcohol on the flight staff as well, according to the police report.
All three submitted to a breathalyzer test at the airport.
The flight captain had no alcohol in his system, according to the police report. The co-pilot had .035 percent blood-alcohol content level and the flight attendant had .025.
It is illegal to operate an aircraft in Minnesota if the person’s BAC is .04 or higher during operation or within two hours of attempted operation, according to state statute. It is also illegal to operate an aircraft within eight hours of consuming alcohol.
No member of the flight staff was arrested, but the report was forwarded to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Marissa Snow, a SkyWest spokeswoman, said an unrelated mechanical issue delayed the flight until later Thursday. She said a new co-pilot was flown in for the flight.
“SkyWest has zero tolerance for violation of safety protocol,” she said of the suspensions. “Without question the first priority is the safety of our passengers and our crew members.”
The jet can hold 50 passengers, although it's unclear how many people were scheduled to be on the flight.
Snow said the company, headquartered in Utah, is investigating the incident.
The co-pilot told police that he began drinking at the Hampton Inn and Suites bar at about noon Wednesday and stopped between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. that night, according to the police report. He said he only had four 12-ounce cans of beer, although he admitted it was probably more after the responding officer questioned that claim based on a sobriety test.
The attendant told police she had four glasses of wine between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesday at the hotel bar.
The captain, who told police he does not drink, said he was not at the bar with the others and was not aware “when or what they were drinking,” according to the police report.
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So, according to the article they were legal by both BAC and the clock. Though company policy is likely stricter.
 
Here is a weird question. Are company GOM infractions enforced by the FAA? Meaning that since according to the FAA they were completely legal, will this just go down as a "will not rehire" when another company calls them?
 
I hate reading about stuff like this...a buzz is no reason to put your career in jeopardy, everyone. If you sense that you may have a problem, go speak to your HIMS people.

Inverted said:
Here is a weird question. Are company GOM infractions enforced by the FAA? Meaning that since according to the FAA they were completely legal, will this just go down as a "will not rehire" when another company calls them?
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At each of the airlines I worked for (all 4 of them now, woof), you could be terminated for anything above 0.02 (and at one, anything above 0). You'd probably keep your ticket, but you'd no doubt be done in this industry.
 
Inverted said:
Here is a weird question. Are company GOM infractions enforced by the FAA? Meaning that since according to the FAA they were completely legal, will this just go down as a "will not rehire" when another company calls them?
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Well, yeah. Although I'm sure the reason for the firing goes on their PRIA stuff, so...
 
dasleben said:
I hate reading about stuff like this...a buzz is no reason to put your career in jeopardy, everyone. If you sense that you may have a problem, go speak to your HIMS people.
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I agree, obviously. But when you put people on the road where they don't know anyone and you stick them in some hotel out in the middle of the prairie to save a few bucks, how surprised can you be when they wind up at the hotel bar? How long can they work out? How many movies haven't they seen? I think the only way out is to start painting miniature furniture, like the guy on The Wire.
 
Boris Badenov said:
I agree, obviously. But when you put people on the road where they don't know anyone and you stick them in some hotel out in the middle of the prairie to save a few bucks, how surprised can you be when they wind up at the hotel bar? How long can they work out? How many movies haven't they seen? I think the only way out is to start painting miniature furniture, like the guy on The Wire.
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I definitely agree with that (heavy drinking was a team sport in Ireland at the Company That Shall Not be Named). There wasn't much else to do, so people would just go crazy with it. Unfortunately, there was also an epidemic of people failing breathalyzers while on reserve. Not worth it.

Not many people know this about me, but I lost a parent in 2008 due to alcohol abuse. I do have fun here and there, but if it gets too out of hand I pull back and walk away from the situation. Sometimes people need to do exactly that, no matter how boring the alternative is. The consequences are simply not worth it.
 
I get that a GOM is FAA approved, but can they enforce something that isn't an FAA reg if it is more strict than the FAA reg?
 
Boris Badenov said:
You sure? I think the FAA would be interested in Opspec infractions, as those are regulatory in nature. GOMs are "accepted", though, right?
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Hmm, I always used those interchangeably, until I was put in place by a POI. One is a part of the other, and I honestly cant remember which. Ie: the opsecs are in the GOM, but the FAA "accepts" the whole thing. I dont remember is either one is approved though.

All I can remember is that if its in the manual, then you abide by it.
 
Inverted said:
I get that a GOM is FAA approved, but can they enforce something that isn't an FAA reg if it is more strict than the FAA reg?
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It's coming down to semantics. One is accepted, and one is approved, and a GOM isnt the same as your opspecs.

And yes, they can enforce it if it is stricter than the regs. If it says in your opspecs 12 hours, or .00001, or zero tolerance, then thats what they enforce. Its the same reason some companies have lower than standard minimums.
 
I figured it was the case, I have just never really thought about it in these terms before. You just assume not to break any rules.
 
Either way, if you blow over a 0.02 at my place of business, you'll be terminated. Being fired from an airline due to alcohol bodes poorly for a career.
 
"Police were called to Bemidji Regional Airport at 5:19 a.m. Thursday after Hampton Inn and Suites employees contacted the airport and said the flight staff had been drinking there and that they could smell alcohol on them, according to a police incident report. Airport employees could smell alcohol on the flight staff as well, according to the police report.

The co-pilot told police that he began drinking at the Hampton Inn and Suites bar at about noon Wednesday and stopped between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. that night, according to the police report. He said he only had four 12-ounce cans of beer, although he admitted it was probably more after the responding officer questioned that claim based on a sobriety test.

The attendant told police she had four glasses of wine between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesday at the hotel bar."

I don't care if your overnight is in the middle of bejebus help me nowhere. If you feel like the only productive thing that you can do to pass the time is to sit at a bar and drink from 4 to 7 hours when you know you have to report for duty early the next morning, and work in an industry with very strict regulations, where every move you make is under a magnifying glass, where you can be reported by any number of people before you even make it to the plane and in a career in which you spent a small fortune and many years to obtain, and you choose to also violate your company's policy, let alone common sense, then you have bigger problems than you are obviously aware of and need a reality check.

Lame justifications, playing the excuse game for one's lack of self-discipline and accountability are not going to help you now. Is it really worth it?
 
Is four glasses in a 4 hour period that overboard? I'm not a wine drinker but it doesn't really seem like that's a crazy amount. I'm wondering if someone wanted to be on the news as the "hero that saved everyone from the drunk pilots!"


But regardless, if they violated company policy... well, they played with fire and got burned.
 
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