Flying While Drunk
United Airlines Pilot Latest to be Charged after Failing Breath Test
Nov 14, 2009
Pilot Ervin Vermont Washington was taken off his plane at London’s Heathrow Airport and charged with flying while intoxicated. Washington’s scheduled United Airlines flight was due to take off for Chicago with 135 passengers on board. The flight was cancelled and the passengers were transferred to other aircraft.
Washington was arrested after airline employees reported him to authorities and the pilot took and failed a breath test. He was later released on bail and a United Airlines spokesperson said that Washington was removed from service pending the outcome of an investigation. If convicted, the pilot faces up to two years in jail and a fine under British law.
Federal Aviation Administration Regulations
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Regulations concerning crew members who consume alcohol or drugs are much stricter than the usual laws that deal with people who drive motor vehicles while under the influence. Members of a flight crew can lose their jobs, their licenses and face criminal charges if their blood-alcohol level exceeds .04. This is half the amount of alcohol that drivers in many jurisdictions are allowed to have in their system before being subject to criminal law sanctions.
The offence under FAA regulations is not limited to pilots or members of the cockpit crew. Flight attendants who have no real control of the aircraft are subject to the same standards of sobriety and penalties as those who actually fly planes. And the offence of flying while drunk includes an attempt to fly; actual movement of the aircraft or control by a member of the flight crew is not necessary to prove the offence.
An exception to these stringent rules is made for emergency situations. This would include a pilot who is off duty and simply catching a flight to another city when an emergency situation develops requiring that pilot to assume or assist with the control of the aircraft.
First American Pilots Charged with Flying While Drunk
Three Northwest Airlines pilots spent an evening drinking in a bar in Fargo North Dakota on the evening of March 8, 1990. The next day a Boeing 727 took off for Minneapolis-St. Paul with the three at the controls. The flight landed without incident but the previous night’s drinking was reported to authorities by a patron at the bar. All three men were given breathalyzer tests and all three failed. The pilots were fired and the FAA revoked their licenses.
Two of the pilots were sentenced to a year in jail while the third, Norman Lyle Prouse received 16 months in jail. After serving his sentence and undergoing rehabilitation for alcoholism, Prouse was re-hired by Northwest as an on-ground flight instructor. The Air Lines Pilots Association had argued that Prouse suffered from a disease and that illness was not a ground for dismissal.
Severe Penalties for Flying Drunk
It would be highly unusual that a person convicted of impaired driving or exceeding permissible levels of alcohol in their blood would face a lengthy period of incarceration in the absence of a substantial criminal record or causing an accident that resulted in serious injury or death. This is not so when it comes to convicted members of a flight crew.
Pilots Thomas Cloyd and Christopher Hughes spent about 6 hours drinking beer in a Miami sports bar. They left the bar at 4:40 a.m. on July 1, 2002 and were due to take off for Phoenix at 10:30 that same morning on a North West plane carrying 117 passengers. Airport security screeners became suspicious and reported the pilots. While the aircraft was being towed to the runway, airport police ordered it returned to the terminal. Both men provided samples of their breath, failed the tests and were charged accordingly.
Cloyd and Hughes pleaded not guilty and argued that as the plane was being towed, they were not in control. They were both convicted in June 2005 after the court found that both men had undertaken pre-flight checks of the aircraft and that was sufficient to put them in control of the plane. The next month Hughes was sentenced to 2½ years in prison while Cloyd received 5 years in jail, the maximum penalty allowed under Florida law. Circuit Court Judge David Young said he had no sympathy for Thomas Cloyd who was facing alcohol related charges before his arrest on this charge.
Not all countries take flying while drunk as seriously as the United States and Great Britain do. In India, where there is a shortage of trained pilots, the authorities tend to look the other way. In the United States, approximately 11 members of commercial flight crews are arrested and charged every year.
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