A Delta Air Lines flight yesterday was canceled for a pretty concerning reason, as flagged by View from the Wing…
In this post:
Delta pilot arrested at Stockholm Arlanda prior to flight
This incident happened on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, and involves Delta flight DL205 from Stockholm Arlanda (ARN) to New York (JFK). The flight was scheduled to be operated by a 26-year-old Boeing 767-300ER with the registration code N176DZ.
So, what happened? At around 9:15AM (65 minutes before scheduled departure time), police boarded the aircraft to conduct a breathalyzer test on the crew, as these are performed at random on crew members, in line with European Union regulations. However, one of the pilots failed the test — she was immediately removed from duty and arrested.
Obviously it’s highly irresponsible for a pilot to not follow limits when it comes to alcohol consumption. However, it’s worth clarifying that there’s a difference between a pilot failing a breathalyzer, and a pilot being drunk.
In this situation, regulations limit pilots to a blood alcohol level of 0.02, compared to the legal limit of 0.08 for driving. So even one drink in your system would be enough to be over the limit for operating an aircraft. The pilot’s blood alcohol level hasn’t been released, and all we know is that it exceeded the limit.
Given the number of crew members out there, failed breathalyzer tests aren’t unheard of. In mid-2023, a Delta flight from Edinburgh was similarly canceled after a pilot failed a breathalyzer. In late 2024, a Delta flight from Amsterdam was canceled after one of the flight attendants was randomly tested, and was found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.143. That’s not just a little over the limit, as that’s almost twice the legal limit for driving a car in the United States, and over seven times the legal limit for crew members.
These kinds of cancellations can get really expensive
With the Boeing 767 being down a pilot, of course the flight was canceled, which the airline describes as being “due to an operational issue.”
Since this flight was departing the European Union, that can quickly get very costly. Not only is there the domino effect of future flights being impacted, but this flight was subject to EC261 regulations. So passengers were entitled to a duty of care (hotels, meals, transportation, etc.), plus are entitled to €600 compensation, assuming they made it to their destination at least four hours behind schedule.
I imagine that most passengers didn’t make it to their destination within four hours, so they’d be entitled to that compensation, if they requested it. If you assume there were around 200 passengers, that comes out to €120,000 in compensation.
Of course that assumes everyone actually requests the compensation, which won’t be the case. Quite the contrary, I imagine only a small percentage of passengers are even aware of this policy, and will request it.
Bottom line
A transatlantic Delta Boeing 767 flight was canceled after one of the pilots failed a breathalyzer test. A random test was performed onboard the aircraft, and one of the pilots didn’t pass it, so she was removed from duty and arrested. We don’t know just how much over the limit she was, but either way, the rules are the rules.
Yes, this should be an easy EU261 claim. I wouldn't bet my life on it though but I would bet a hefty chunk of change that Delta stonewall and flat out deny the claim but some cooked up BS excuse.
other sites are reporting that she requested and was given a second test which showed her levels were within legal limits.
What will happen to this pilot professionally-wise? Will she lose her job or lesser penalties are applied? Does this incident impacts her license in any way?
The FAA does have a program for pilots to request help w/ addiction issues and Delta and ALPA support it.
The question is whether they can participate if they are already in the cockpit rather than having asked for help before they boarded the aircraft.
There was a United pilot that did something similar and had to spend time in jail overseas but eventually got back to the US.
This is bad enough in your own country but much worse overseas.
She will probably be fired, and her career is likely done as a major airline pilot. The programs Tim refers to are for crew to seek help with substance abuse issues before they have an incident like this.
If there's a silver lining for her, it's that this happened in Sweden, not the United States. The US criminal justice system is much more harsh, and pilots who fail breathalyzers in the US are frequently...
She will probably be fired, and her career is likely done as a major airline pilot. The programs Tim refers to are for crew to seek help with substance abuse issues before they have an incident like this.
If there's a silver lining for her, it's that this happened in Sweden, not the United States. The US criminal justice system is much more harsh, and pilots who fail breathalyzers in the US are frequently charged with a federal crime. I'm not familiar with how Sweden in particular handles this, but even if they bring criminal charges, I'd sure as hell rather deal with the Swedish criminal justice system than the American one.
Back of the envelope calc: If a 140 lb woman stopped drinking at 10 PM and still blew 0.02% at 9 AM, she likely consumed about 7 drinks (+/- 1) within 2-4hrs (over dinner, perhaps?) before calling it a night. That's quite a lot IMHO if you know you have to be up at around 6am at your hotel to get to the airport and fly a plane. I would never do this - my...
Back of the envelope calc: If a 140 lb woman stopped drinking at 10 PM and still blew 0.02% at 9 AM, she likely consumed about 7 drinks (+/- 1) within 2-4hrs (over dinner, perhaps?) before calling it a night. That's quite a lot IMHO if you know you have to be up at around 6am at your hotel to get to the airport and fly a plane. I would never do this - my rule is 16hrs bottle to throttle, and I even push this out to 24hrs in some circumstances. I regard this as irresponsible behaviour from the pilot and I am in favour of mandatory breath-testing for the airlines + random testing on the roads. Airlines could be proactive about it and install the breath lock devices if they took it seriously, but I suppose the unions might have something to say about that. I do think that .02 could be raised to .04, but at the end of the day... don't drink and fly.
Another DEI hire. Drunk Entitled Idiot
Delta's AI pricing just got smarter - it now charges you extra for flights where the pilots are actually sober. 'Responsible crew operation' is apparently a premium feature now.
wish i had thought of this, well dunn
I am allowed to obsess over Tim Dunn however I want!
It's totally normal and not weird, just like accusing everyone of being a Tim Dunn alt account.
Also I will reply to myself and claim it's a fake account and then like the comment with burners to signal boost it!
-- Real Julie
P R E M I U M
that's my gag.
Can't wait for Tim, to spin this, I'm sure it's United's fault.
Scott Kirby obviously spiked the pilot’s drink duh-uh
Smh
The legal limit for driving in Sweden is 0.02 (not 0.08 as stated). As the flights was originating in Sweden it would natural to take this as the reference point
I see your point but it's a US airline on a US web site primarily read by people in the US. Hence the reference to the .08 as most of us can relate to that easily.
Despite the fixation that some have with me, it is precisely because there have been multiple cases of pilots attempting to fly while not passing a breathalyzer that these types of laws exist.
as for the 767 comments, DL's 767 fleet is young than UA's. and DL is retiring them for now with new 330-900s and might do so finish the job with 787s.
Nah, you created whatever fixation people may have of you. You’re like Candyman, all Lucky has to do is post an article about DL and you will be summoned…
Just to add...
No one has brought up the 767.
This is typical Tim and why many of us like to talk about him.
Can't stop the fluff.
well, yes, "767" was mentioned in the article and people commented about it in the comments.
and no, Julia, it is clear that there are people that came running to respond to the article about DL thinking they were going to belittle and wound me long before I wrote a word.
I live rent free in the minds of a whole lot of people and those people are the ones whose identities are attached to...
well, yes, "767" was mentioned in the article and people commented about it in the comments.
and no, Julia, it is clear that there are people that came running to respond to the article about DL thinking they were going to belittle and wound me long before I wrote a word.
I live rent free in the minds of a whole lot of people and those people are the ones whose identities are attached to their "beloved" airline and not me.
It is always sad to see people unable to control their habits and behavior whether we are talking about alcohol or a need to post to a social media forum.
It is precisely because I sit back and watch fools like you get it out of your system that there is ample proof that it is you, not me, that lacks control.
you, a number of other people on here, and this pilot need help. thankfully, the Delta pilot union has worked hard w/ the company to help pilots who request help.
I have no idea what venues you have but you would do well to spend less time here and more time figuring out those opportunities - and then use them.
And the irony is that I could say that about myself too!
I am super fixated on responding to Tim all the time. In fact, that makes up for the overwhelming majority of my comments!
Aw, I wonder who posted that comment about me…whoever it is, please go ahead and list all the times I have been fixated on Tim.
“Julia, it is clear that there are people that came running to respond to the article about DL thinking they were going to belittle and wound me long before I wrote a word.”
Most of these people like myself were already visiting and commenting on this long before you are...
Aw, I wonder who posted that comment about me…whoever it is, please go ahead and list all the times I have been fixated on Tim.
“Julia, it is clear that there are people that came running to respond to the article about DL thinking they were going to belittle and wound me long before I wrote a word.”
Most of these people like myself were already visiting and commenting on this long before you are your DL fetish showed up.
“I live rent free in the minds of a whole lot of people and those people are the ones whose identities are attached to their "beloved" airline and not me.”
Oh dear. Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt…your behavior on this site is what causes people to react to you the way they do.
Guys, really … Could we all just stop replying to Tim ? He clearly has deep mental issues, there’s no point in trying to argue with the deluded stuff that his mind produces. Just let him write the things he writes, and if people want to take that as real info, so bet it. That’s how the internet is. It’s better than having this back and forth with someone who clearly needs medical help and it’s incapable of having a rational discussion. JUST IGNORE HIM.
No! I am the one with deep mental issues.
Anytime someone disagrees with me, I will accuse them of being a Tim Dunn alt account!
Lol whoever that is posting as me, you keep doing you.
You also seem to not be able to tell the difference between Julie and Julia.
I got so confused with my alts that I didn't realize Julia was replying to Julia, but now I accidentally exposed myself as using alt accounts like Julie!
@Julia, you are wrong. Any article about any airline (Tim is good, he isn’t picky about competition), will be enough for Tim
Regarding EU261 compensation, there are exemptions for airlines paying out in certain circumstances. Mainly where the airline can claim it was an event outside their control.
I would imagine that the 'because the pilot was drunk' has not been tested in Europe before. Will be interesting to see the outcome.
As strikes are considered within the airlines control (tried and tested) - then it would be very hard for Delta to argue that their own crew members can not follow the company's policies (nor the law). It is definetely EU261
Strikes are only considered where it is the airlines direct employees that strike as they are still considered within an airlines control.
If a flight is cancelled because of say a third party ground handler strike EU261 does not apply.
There is no test case for a drunk pilot but there is for a pilot that has gone sick resulting in a cancelled flight. EU261 does not apply to sickness of crew if the airline...
Strikes are only considered where it is the airlines direct employees that strike as they are still considered within an airlines control.
If a flight is cancelled because of say a third party ground handler strike EU261 does not apply.
There is no test case for a drunk pilot but there is for a pilot that has gone sick resulting in a cancelled flight. EU261 does not apply to sickness of crew if the airline can prove the sickness was part of a wider extraordinary circumstance such as deliberate sabotage or criminal action. So this one will be a very grey (or gray) area.
@ Duck Ling
I do not believe this is at all a gray area as extraordinary circumstances have been defined as events outside the airline's control, such as severe weather or air traffic strikes.
The crew behaviour is most definitely the airline’s responsibility, because crew availability, pilot fitness etc are within the control of every airline as this is down to employee management.
EU261 definitely applies.
The people commenting about Tim Dunn on any and every post that even mentions DL have become more annoying than TD himself.
100%. As soon as I can tell it's a comment targeted at him I just quit reading. It's not that hard to simply ignore him if you don't agree or like him.
It's not that easy, either. He vomits all over the comment sections with walls of text and "analysis".
It is. Many of us scroll past. A lot of them enjoy taunting him and it’s actually annoying because a lot of times they’ll bring him up first and then try to clown him when he responds.
It’s actually the most pathetic thing.
It’s actually the most pathetic thing.
Safety first. Perhaps more random tests should be performed. This is concerning. How many others are flying while being impaired.
When will DL and UA going to get rid of those nearly 30 year planes. Are they still competitive compared to the B787s and A350s or even the A339s
@Dim Tunn
@ Thomas Maldives
@ Nasir
@ Ole
@ Eskimo
@ Aaron
I'm curious, did all of you ask Tim Dunn for a date and he turned you down or something? I do not understand why you have given one man so much power over you that you wait with baited breath for his every utterings. So very bizarre.
@JustinDev
I'm curious, did you ask
@Dim Tunn
@ Thomas Maldives
@ Nasir
@ Ole
@ Aaron
for a date and they turned you down or something? I do not understand why you have given group of men so much power over you that you wait with baited breath for their every utterings. So very bizarre.
I feel like I’ve been pretty clear that I’m trying to bully him into self-harming?
Dim Tunn - this ain’t cool. You may spin it as humor but i personally don’t think we should be joking about bullying or self harm.
ok
@ Dim Tunn. That’s a joke in very poor taste. How sick can you be?
apparently "very" to "quite?"
They all have nothing going on in their life so that’s why they spend their days taunting a stranger online.
The idea of asking TD out on a date just made me throw up in my mouth…
+1
Don't forget about my alts
@Julie
@Mason
I am sucking upto him so that he agrees to take me under his wings. I have so much to learn from him.
*In this situation, regulations limit pilots to a blood alcohol level of 0.02, compared to the legal limit of 0.08 for driving." - The limit for driving in Sweden is 0.02 = equal to flying, not 0.08.
Thank you for your comment.
Americans thinking their local laws apply to other countries....
here's the thing about this that you have to remember. Delta actually has the highest industry PAASM (pilot alcohol per available seat mile) - WAY higher than United which is focused solely on getting their pilots flying places. Delta understands that what matters is getting their pilots DRUNK and flying places! Plus they fly the A350 which is the greatest aircraft ever invented. United could never.
I want the people flying my aircraft to be alcohol free. I commend European authorities for having this law. Given the amount of flying that we do, we should have this kind of law in US as well.
What are you talking about? The legal limit is the same in the US.
Too bad Delta pilots don't have a union that will save her job. Delta pilots love their booze!
@Thomas Maldives
Get ready to be lectured by Tim Dunn.
Of course Delta pilots have a union. Why would you think they didn’t?
0.02 is quite low, much less than one standard drink (or maybe two drinks, but many many hours ago). For a smaller person, might even be a bit of residual mouthwash. I'll withhold judgment in this case without knowing more.
… or maybe she ate 15 kilos of apples before the flight and they started fermenting into cider… as plausible as the mouthwash theory ;)
Here to see how TD spins this.
According to Tim Dunn, it was a Premium alcohol in the system.
Ok but UA and AA something something worse something something DL leads in profits something something getting new planes something something best lounges in the US something something.