A transatlantic United Airlines flight was canceled over the weekend for a rather concerning reason, as reported by Le Parisien.
In this post:
United Airlines captain arrested at Paris Airport
This incident happened on Sunday, July 23, 2023, and involves United Airlines flight UA331, which was scheduled to operate from Paris (CDG) to Washington (IAD). The flight was supposed to depart at 5PM and be operated by a Boeing 777-200. However, the flight ended up being canceled shortly before departure.
The reason? The 63-year-old captain showed up to the airport way above the legal alcohol limit. Security personnel at the airport noticed that the man was “showing signs of obvious drunkenness,” and “he was staggering slightly, his eyes were glassy, and his mouth pasty.”
The man was subjected to two blood alcohol tests, which found a blood alcohol level of 0.056 and 0.059. Regulations in France limit pilots to a blood alcohol level of 0.02, compared to the legal limit of 0.05 for driving (as a point of comparison, in the United States, the limit is 0.04 for pilots, and 0.08 for drivers). For a flight departing France, the pilot was nearly three times over the legal limit.
When questioned, the captain stated that he had only consumed two glasses of wine the night before. The man was arrested and held in custody. The judge doubted the captain’s account of how much he drank, and stated that “there could have been a plane crash, you put 267 passengers at risk.”
At the court hearing, the man was handed a six-month suspended sentence, a €4,500 fine, and a one year suspension of his pilots license (though only as it impacts the European Union). Presumably he’ll face additional punishment in the United States. In terms of the future of his career, I guess it’s good that he’s within a couple of years of retiring.
My take on this intoxicated pilot story
Airline pilots are only human, and their jobs can be stressful at times. They can deal with depression, jetlag, being away from home for extended periods of time, etc. So while a vast majority of pilots take their jobs very seriously and are responsible, there are always going to be some bad apples, or people with clouded judgment.
A couple of thoughts here:
- With a blood alcohol level like what this guy had, does he really think that claiming he had two glasses of wine 15+ hours earlier was going to work as an excuse? I guess he figures there’s no point in confessing to anything further, because I can’t imagine it would reduce his punishment
- A blood alcohol level of 0.056-0.059 isn’t to a level where you’d expect someone to be visibly drunk-acting, so I can’t help but wonder if maybe his tolerance just isn’t that great, or if there was something else at play here (perhaps mixing alcohol and some medication?)
- What’s most concerning to me here is how it’s the security staff at the airport who busted him, and not his colleagues — when the crew met in the lobby and on the shuttle to the airport, did nobody else notice this guy’s condition?
This is far from the first time we’ve seen an incident like this. Just a few weeks ago, a Delta Boeing 767 pilot was arrested at Edinburgh Airport, also for being over the legal alcohol limit for pilots. Perhaps the most memorable drunk pilot incident was back in 2018, when a Japan Airlines Boeing 777 pilot showed up at London Heathrow Airport with a blood alcohol level of 0.18 (yes, more than double the legal limit to drive in the United States).
Bottom line
A United Airlines transatlantic flight was canceled because the captain showed up at Paris Airport intoxicated, about three times the legal limit for pilots. Security staff noticed he was acting strange, and their suspicions ended up being accurate. The flight was canceled, and the captain ended up being arrested.
What do you make of this intoxicated pilot story?
Not excusing this at all. It is inexcusable ….Just a note that we have an indicted and an impeached felon who tried to overthrow our government and clearly mentally running for president. Clearly mentally ill & yet 50% of the GOP think this is normal ???? We should all be terrified
Pilots don’t regularly drink because of stress and we all know the limits, both personally and legally. Given that, showing up over the limit is a personal choice and a bad one. He is responsible for the SAFE operation of that flight and everyone onboard is expecting his best. Showing up a “little drunk” is not acceptable. He could have called in sick and avoided the whole issue for everyone. There are no excuses, period.
The man got what he deserved, and the penalties should have been harsher. Being sober and 100% fit to fly a plane was part of his very well-paid job. He should have chosen a different career if he missed his family and friends so tremendously on three-day trips 2-3 times a month. And he was unable to walk by a bar on his layovers without getting drunk, then he should have sought treatment or should...
The man got what he deserved, and the penalties should have been harsher. Being sober and 100% fit to fly a plane was part of his very well-paid job. He should have chosen a different career if he missed his family and friends so tremendously on three-day trips 2-3 times a month. And he was unable to walk by a bar on his layovers without getting drunk, then he should have sought treatment or should have been fired a long time ago. Other careers are much more stressful than his, but should we try to "understand," say, drunk police officers and hospital surgeons. People have died because of irresponsible individuals like him.
I agree completely. Pilots must be held to the highest standard, their job is not really that hard most days but when things go wrong we need them at 100% as the responsibility is enormous.
What ever happened to eight hours from bottle to throttle??
I think the standards should be universal. I read the comments and it appears that the US has different standards, for example. I think the airlines should agree on this. If the US policy is a higher BAC and EU is lower, then this is not fair to the pilot, passengers of the flight, and his future. Consider there is a pilot and captain shortage. The impaired judgment could be argued I guess.
How sober do you have to be to turn on the autopilot?
Rules are the rules, plain and simple.
121 guys think they are God…They are NOT.
Union crybabies, overcompensated, arrogant and egotistical.
I’d love to see one of these pretty boys fly the bush, spray or do any actual “hands on” flying.
They can’t.
You play with fire, you get burned.
I’m sorry, I don’t care what his bac is. Anything that can impair judgement doesn’t belong in a cockpit of an aircraft with hundreds of lives.
As someone with an upcoming ticket on United I’m more than a bit concernedthey should have to blow into breathalyzer prior to boarding the plane.
No excuse. You cant put people's lives in danger. Glad he got caught . Time to surrender your wings Captain
There is a "8 hour bottle to throttle" rule for pilots in the US, but we are also taught that the alcohol often stays much longer. So he could potentially have had only two drinks and it stayed in the system.
Regardless, thats a $400/hr job likely throw away. Good things he's close to retirement, but getting retirement benefits is probably going to be a little iffy due to it being a termination.
What the heck is a "pasty mouth" and how does one detect it in someone else?
Crew members don't always ride to the airport together. It's arranged that way, but sometimes someone will go early to shop at duty free or check a bag. Or they'll go somehwere else from the hotel and then get their own ride to the airport. (just helping explain why maybe the crew didn't notice). We also often ride in a huge bus, so maybe no one engaged with him on the shuttle.
Some how the URL refreshed my screen and attributed someone else's comment to me! So I will repost: The pilot's conviction suspends his flying in the EASA for one year. Had he sought voluntary/involuntary treatment and passed, the FAA would then scrutinize his First Class medical every six months. However, he showed up for the flight intoxicated and was convicted in a court of law. The FAA, after review by an administrative law judge, will...
Some how the URL refreshed my screen and attributed someone else's comment to me! So I will repost: The pilot's conviction suspends his flying in the EASA for one year. Had he sought voluntary/involuntary treatment and passed, the FAA would then scrutinize his First Class medical every six months. However, he showed up for the flight intoxicated and was convicted in a court of law. The FAA, after review by an administrative law judge, will revoke is pilot certificate. He won't be allowed to fly again. As a clarification, the FAA issues a pilot CERTIFICATE vs other countries issue a LICENSE. Big difference.
The old airline joke: "How many pilots does it take to fly a XXX airline jet?" "Two and a fifth."
I mean isn't this expected? Americans like to do everything to extremes and beyond reasonable limits, especially drinking, which is not their strong suit. Typical.
...ah, so the American girl said "no" when you asked her out.
We understand.
Fragile ego ConcordeBoy.
The rest of the world understand a reality check is tough particularly when your extreme obese self doesn't fit in a mirror any more.
I concur with your 3rd point. However, I do believe there is more to this pilot’s story. I imagine that he will probably choose to retire. I pray that he makes the decision to seek help, regardless of whether he chooses to try and get his medical back or retire.
Thank god someone caught him!
Another pilot hating post by the failed student pilot in 2006, Ben. Nice.
Great assessment there, Captain Context.
Speculate much?
I would hate to loose my pension at 63 years of age. I sure hope that Irish Whiskey was worth it.
United doesn't have pensions to "lose"...
No pension at United. *Lose.
How would he lose his pension?
My life is too much to fathom. I would like see all pilots screened before flying an aircraf before even boarding an airplane. You don't get a second chance in the air 35000 to 38000 feet with a drunk pilot.
Well said. F/as and mainly pilots should be screened and tested way more often
I think that Captain's motto was "when in rome, do as Romans do". Wine is a very important part of French culture, and it's of excellent quality there. Just like the rest of French culture.
It seems possible (probable?) to me that the crew flagged him with the security team, rather than trying to reason with him. It doesn't sound like talk alone would have done anything.
No way...FO would have told him to call in sick if the FO knew...
My question is how did this get through the French judicial system so fast??
Crew in the US can self report alcohol/drug abuse before being caught, get treatment, lots of testing, keep their jobs. Very sad and glad he was caught. He’s lucky his pension/401k is protected
This definitely isn't great, but I don't think anyone was really at serious risk here. His BAC really wasn't that high at between .05 and .06. That's low enough to drive in the US, and almost low enough to fly here. And there were two other pilots on that flight as well. Again, not great and certainly illegal in Europe, but he wasn't actually drunk drunk.
My guess is he went pretty hard the...
This definitely isn't great, but I don't think anyone was really at serious risk here. His BAC really wasn't that high at between .05 and .06. That's low enough to drive in the US, and almost low enough to fly here. And there were two other pilots on that flight as well. Again, not great and certainly illegal in Europe, but he wasn't actually drunk drunk.
My guess is he went pretty hard the night before and hadn't fully sobered up the next morning. Obviously very poor judgement (not to mention hang overs get much worse with age!). But he'll pay the price by having to retire early and lose out on at least a half-million dollars in compensation he would have received if he'd worked until 65 (or maybe more if Congress raises the retirement age to 67), not to mention the criminal conviction in France.
Wow. Have to disagree. He was way over limits for EU and US. Doesn’t matter if he was functioning. And how would a crew of 2 operate a flight that should have 3?
A crew of 1 can operate a flight if required...
WTH....Why aren't these pilots' names and places of residence identified in this and other articles? These are criminal offenses....hope they loose their pilot licenses forever...o
How big were the glasses of wine?
Why not drink/drug testing for all pilots on all flights?
Don’t be ridiculous.
What part of that is ridiculous? I'm almost surprised airline insurers don't require it.
Cost and time not to mention the 4th and 5th amendments to the constitution.
Re: CG
Cost, yes (resourcing and procurement/maintenance of equipment), but time, no way.
Roadside RBTs take minutes to check for alcohol and a range of illicit drugs here in Australia. These could be reasonably rolled out to do cursory checks on flight crew for substances before departure. This would be a good deterrent for those with dependence issues who can present as sober while being completely blotto.
How much cost and time would it take? In some European countries, bus drivers can't even start the engine without using the connected onboard breath analyser. If it can be done reasonably cheap an fast on a bloody bus (even when drivers change enroute), surely it can be done at airports where pilots go through various checks anyway, and the cost base is much higher.
4th and 5th amendments have zero relevance in France.
Cost and time not to mention the 4th and 5th amendments to the constitution."
So in other words, you don't realize that the time can be measured in seconds, and that the US constitution doesn't mean squat to the other 190ish countries in the world....
....or for that matter that the SITLA/SILA exemptions to the 4th Amendment's reasonableness standard apply to "international borders and crossing," which include international airports.
Meaning that probable cause is not an express requirement for a search and/or seizure of limited duration and scope, at a federally airport.
Why not drink/drug test each passenger, every day a flight diverts due to unruly passenger!
Totally agree they should get tested before each flight
I was a flight attendant on an Anchorage layover in January, 1977, when a local cab driver drove a three-man Japan Air Lines flight deck crew to the airport. They were to operate a cattle charter to Tokyo. The captain was so obviously drunk that the cab driver called his dispatch. By the time word had made it to the airport the DC-8 had taken-off. The plane crashed during climb-out, killing the three pilots and...
I was a flight attendant on an Anchorage layover in January, 1977, when a local cab driver drove a three-man Japan Air Lines flight deck crew to the airport. They were to operate a cattle charter to Tokyo. The captain was so obviously drunk that the cab driver called his dispatch. By the time word had made it to the airport the DC-8 had taken-off. The plane crashed during climb-out, killing the three pilots and two cattle handlers (and all the cattle). There was a lot of talk at the time about WHY didn't the 1st and 2nd officers refuse to fly with their drunk captain. The consensus was that they were afraid for their jobs if they reported the incident. Sadly, far more was lost than just jobs...
Asian culture doesn't encourage challenging the senior guy, it never has. There were a LOT of problems with this in aviation, and they worked to overcome that, but not entirely successfully.
How could they tell his mouth was "pasty"?
There was and I believe, still is, an acronym when I was at flight school ." 8 hours between bottle and throttle". It needs no explanation. That Captain should be sent on early retirement. He ought to have known better.
,
It's 12 hours for United
So you don’t know what an acronym is, got it!
It's always been "12hrs from bottle to throttle" in the USA, and probably everywhere.
Very irresponsible Captain if he does not care about himself he should care the soul's he is flying he should be banned for life
I wonder what BAC level for automation would be?
The only autonomous machine that seems to be an alcoholic is chatGPTim.
I don't drink; not out of "morality," I just hate the taste of alcohol. As a result, there's much about the general concept of drinking that I don't understand.
Primarily being, why on EARTH would someone with a job that's so sensitive to this kind of thing, so non-transferable, and so highly paying, want to ever drink at all? Why take that risk? One fuckup, and that's it. What about alcohol could possibly be worth...
I don't drink; not out of "morality," I just hate the taste of alcohol. As a result, there's much about the general concept of drinking that I don't understand.
Primarily being, why on EARTH would someone with a job that's so sensitive to this kind of thing, so non-transferable, and so highly paying, want to ever drink at all? Why take that risk? One fuckup, and that's it. What about alcohol could possibly be worth the risk? I just don't get it, yet we see this sorta thing all the time.
Many pilots drink due to stress. You work long hours and spend extended periods away from friends and family.
When they fly to a city they are often only there for a day or less before they fly somewhere else and going to a bar is an easy way to pass that time. Since this is a common habit with pilots there are bars near airports which cater to pilots and flight staff further incentivising this behavior since it's very convenient.
Pilots generally don't stay near the airport
Really they have stress??? I want to know how much they have. So they go to a 5 star hotel 2 weeks out of a month. Visited the trans-con destination that he probably was awarded on a bid. Was making his 300.00 + an hour on this flight over and back. Now mind you the hardest part of his day was saying hi to the passengers as they boarded if he did that. So then...
Really they have stress??? I want to know how much they have. So they go to a 5 star hotel 2 weeks out of a month. Visited the trans-con destination that he probably was awarded on a bid. Was making his 300.00 + an hour on this flight over and back. Now mind you the hardest part of his day was saying hi to the passengers as they boarded if he did that. So then he proceeded to program the computer for his flight but really the FO is doing that. Then let’s see maybe he taxed out naaa he probably took comms and made the FO that day taxi to the runway. He gets to the end of the runway and they take off. Autopilot takes over then they kick in auto land. Hit the ground head to the gate and park. He was most likely there for 24 to 48 hrs on a layover. I’m sure he was stressed. He knows the rules he chose to break the rules. He gets what he deserves. He chose to fuck around well he found out!!!
Just came here to say that it's good to see someone else in the same shoes. Just like you I hate the taste of alcohol and often find it hard to explain to my friends so I usually just don't go out with them. Yeah it's quite irresponsible for the pilot
Just came here to say that it's good to see someone else in the same shoes.
You're definitely not alone.
I too don't drink, and have never been drunk before: and honestly don't know why anyone would ever want to be, after seeing friends vomit endlessly, be hungover for days on end, smash their cars, lose their jobs/marriages, or be completely dependent on it to handle any situation.
The value proposition just doesn't seem...
Just came here to say that it's good to see someone else in the same shoes.
You're definitely not alone.
I too don't drink, and have never been drunk before: and honestly don't know why anyone would ever want to be, after seeing friends vomit endlessly, be hungover for days on end, smash their cars, lose their jobs/marriages, or be completely dependent on it to handle any situation.
The value proposition just doesn't seem to be anywhere near enough to justify all that, yet people happily do it. *sigh*
Because not everyone who drinks will vomit, be hungover, smash their car or lose their job or marriage. I haven't vomited after drinking since I was 19 or something, I would never ever drive after drinking (even when I'm within the legal limit, I consider it highly irresponsible), I know my limits and what to do to prevent a hangover, and I really can't see why having a fun night out would cause me to...
Because not everyone who drinks will vomit, be hungover, smash their car or lose their job or marriage. I haven't vomited after drinking since I was 19 or something, I would never ever drive after drinking (even when I'm within the legal limit, I consider it highly irresponsible), I know my limits and what to do to prevent a hangover, and I really can't see why having a fun night out would cause me to lose my job or marriage, unless I'd do something stupid (which after 12 years of being legal drinking age I'm pretty sure I won't).
Drinking does not equal being an alcoholic who can't control themselves.
Did you even read what was written?
The question wasn't why would anyone want to drink, it was why would anyone want to get repetitively shitfaced.
@ConcordeBoy, the question literally was "Primarily being, why on EARTH would someone with a job that's so sensitive to this kind of thing, so non-transferable, and so highly paying, want to ever drink at all? Why take that risk?"
Nothing about getting repetitively shitfaced; rather, why would someone with a job as a pilot "want to ever drink at all?"
A question that would only be asked by someone who dislikes alcohol, never...
@ConcordeBoy, the question literally was "Primarily being, why on EARTH would someone with a job that's so sensitive to this kind of thing, so non-transferable, and so highly paying, want to ever drink at all? Why take that risk?"
Nothing about getting repetitively shitfaced; rather, why would someone with a job as a pilot "want to ever drink at all?"
A question that would only be asked by someone who dislikes alcohol, never has a drink, and correctly self-professes that "there's much about the general concept of drinking that I don't understand."
@shza
No, that was my question not his. He did ask about specifically getting drunk.
And I assumed @Samo was responding to your question.
In any event, @concordeboy also didn't pose any question about getting "repetitively shitfaced" -- just why would anyone ever want to be drunk.
So his jumping on someone else about reading comprehension was pretty inane.
Swift justice. Incident happened Sunday, July 23, 2023; pilot was handed a six-month suspended sentence, fine, and year suspension of license. Today is July 27,2023. Does the french judicial system work that swiftly or am I missing something regarding the timeline?
Let them eat cake!
It’s called “comparution immediate”
All airline crew should be subjected to a compulsory breathalyser test prior to boarding
Odd that the security persons noticed “pasty mouth” along with staggering and glassy eyes. Just wondering what “pasty mouth” looks like?
Saliva is thick and white. Sticks in strands to mouth and tongue...very viscous.
« A blood alcohol level of 0.56-0.59 isn’t to a level where you’d expect someone to be visibly drunk-acting,...»
^ This is a typo.
At a blood alcohol level of 0.56, I'd expect the person to be dead.
Lucky,
Big difference between 0.056 Bac and 0.56.
He would be on a stretcher or maybe in the morgue at 0.56% Bac.
Europe alcohol limits for flying is three times stricter then the US. America should adopt the Europe limits.
Ironic when Americans can’t officially drink until 21 in the US
I, over 80 y/o have noticed a slow degradation of tolerance for alcohol. One beer, 12 Oz, I will feel its effects for a couple or 3 hours.
There is a reluctance for work colleagues to report "slight" innebriation.
Also if this is a transatlantic flight, there would probably be double the normal crew...three additional pilots.
No, there would be ONE additional pilot for a total of 3.
Two pilots two first officers. A total of for drivers. Lol
Why wont they release his full name?
Because it's nome of your business.
He was willing to risk nearly 300 lives for his salary and reputation? Nah, fuck his "privacy." But they'll know his name soon enough in the States.
Coulda, woulda, should. You have no clue as to his degree of impairment.
You have no clue as to competency when he is "sober"
Sober pilots, drivers, boat masters have accidents.
GDPR Privacy which we have in Europe.
a Delta Boeing 767 pilot was arrested at Edinburgh Airport, a Japan Airlines Boeing 777 pilot showed up at London Heathrow Airport, a United Airlines flight UA331, which was scheduled to operate from Paris (CDG).
Notice the common denominator? All of the flights originating on the European soil. And since I myself am on the European soil right now - adios fellas, i don't even know why I'm talking to you.
With 66 percent of the crew concerned being American and no European airlines involved.
First there were drunken brawls in the cabin...it's only a matter of time before there are drunken brawls in the cockpit! pathetic...
The recent days have not been the best for the US3...
There are already sober brawls in the cockpit...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/29/two-air-france-pilots-suspended-after-fight-in-cockpit-prompts-cabin-crew-to-intervene
Amongst others, the comment about the rest of the crew failing to act is uncalled for. How do you know that this Captain traveled with the rest of the crew to the airport? From past experience dealing with such matters, those who are in such a situation or similar usually have other outlets than the crew hotel. They know better places to get into trouble.
Sounds like he was also taking prescription drugs.
With his age in mind, this man must be a very experienced pilot and i also believe that this might not be the first time for him to fly intoxicated. Maybe he handles the plane pretty well while in that state of intoxication.
"A blood alcohol level of 0.56-0.59 isn’t to a level where you’d expect someone to be visibly drunk-acting, ........" Lucky, this is simply not true. Everyone's alcohol tolerance level is totally different and can be contingent on many factors including a person's weight, food consumed, etc., etc.
Please stick to travel topics of which you know what you're talking about and leave the medical discussion and speculation to a professional. Statements like the one...
"A blood alcohol level of 0.56-0.59 isn’t to a level where you’d expect someone to be visibly drunk-acting, ........" Lucky, this is simply not true. Everyone's alcohol tolerance level is totally different and can be contingent on many factors including a person's weight, food consumed, etc., etc.
Please stick to travel topics of which you know what you're talking about and leave the medical discussion and speculation to a professional. Statements like the one you made are irresponsible.
<0.06 is legal to drive. It is a level where you'd expect someone to function normally or it wouldn't be legal to drive
It's actually <.08 and you're still "legal" to drive. However, you can have impairments with as little as .03 in your system. If you're so confident that .06 is legal and everything is fine, get pulled over with .06 alcohol blood level and see what happens. Again, everyone's tolerance is different and for some, a person's impairments can be more or greater at .03 vs. another person at .06 or .08 or whatever.
The argument is about the expectation of a regular functioning adult with a 0.06. Regardless of individual discrepancies, the expectation is that people will function regularly at 0.06
It's all relative. What comprises or defines a "regular functioning adult"? That's certainly up for debate.
Technically your bother wrong. .08 is the legal limit where above that number you are presumed to be impaired.
You can still get a DUI below .08 if the prosecution can prove you were impaired when operating a motor vehicle.
So yes you can definitely be impaired below .08 everyone handles alcohol differently, and if you are driving you are not necessarily fine to drive below .08.
"...your bother wrong." Huh??
If you're trying to say we are both wrong - you're wrong!! LOL. You're basically stating my case and argument for me. Essentially what you're saying is exactly what I'm saying!!
Anyone with any common sense can tell you that someone at a 0.06 BAC generally is not "staggering" as described. So please stop being so sanctimonious.
@Alex hurr durr you can't speak for everybody, a 1 year old with a 0.06 would be all over the place!!! Won't someone think of the poor lightweights????
This is a travel related post, so STFU unless you can add something intelligent…. Which actually you have, so no need to criticize Ben, which I think you did just want to seem superior.
Glassy eyed , staggering and his crew doesn't nothing? No raise for them.
How do you KNOW that anyone within his crew had even at that point made visual contact with him??
@ Charlie,
That is what was reported by le Parisien and other French newspapers. If you have other personal knowledge please share it. Also the blood alcohol is reported as .132 which would be quite loaded.
he may have travelled separately to the airport. Not all that uncommon.
Speechless.
At least the passengers should be entitled to 600€ compensation following EC261.
Like you mentioned, it's strange the rest of the Crew "didn't" noticed that. Maybe they had the same situation.
Maybe one day every Cockpit Crew should be analized before taking the flight. This is so insane, Not only for yourself but the lives you carry on.
You are making a lot of assumptions they're saying the crew didn't notice. When you actually have no idea what happened on that crew shuttle van ride to the airport. The article didn't specify if any of the crew members reached out to United on their United issued devices, did any crew members go ahead of the captain into the terminal and alert security to the captain appearing drunk. Just because the captain was on...
You are making a lot of assumptions they're saying the crew didn't notice. When you actually have no idea what happened on that crew shuttle van ride to the airport. The article didn't specify if any of the crew members reached out to United on their United issued devices, did any crew members go ahead of the captain into the terminal and alert security to the captain appearing drunk. Just because the captain was on the shuttle doesn't mean the crew didn't notice. There is no way for the crew to physically restrain or prevent the captain from boarding the shuttle to the airport. Once the captain decided he was going to attempt to fly an aircraft drunk instead of calling in sick or fatigue the only thing left for the crew to do is to let him board that shuttle alert United on their device or let the authorities at the airport deal with it. If the remainder of the crew had failed to get on the shuttle themselves they would get a failure to cover even though they knew most likely their flight would be canceled. There have been cases in the past where United has canceled a separate flight and taken a singular or multiple crew members from one flight to have them work another seeing there is no crew base in Paris. So the crew can't just assume they are canceled and refused to get on the hotel shuttle.
He had to be drinking for lunch or heavily drinking for breakfast to have that much in his system.
At his age, he probably has taken his last flight given the time it takes to work through the recovery and recertification process.
The pilot's conviction suspends his flying in the EASA for one year. Had he sought voluntary/involuntary treatment and passed, the FAA would then scrutinize his First Class medical every six months. However, he showed up for the flight intoxicated and was convicted in a court of law. The FAA, after review by an administrative law judge, will revoke is pilot certificate. He won't be allowed to fly again. As a clarification, the FAA issues a...
The pilot's conviction suspends his flying in the EASA for one year. Had he sought voluntary/involuntary treatment and passed, the FAA would then scrutinize his First Class medical every six months. However, he showed up for the flight intoxicated and was convicted in a court of law. The FAA, after review by an administrative law judge, will revoke is pilot certificate. He won't be allowed to fly again. As a clarification, the FAA issues a pilot CERTIFICATE vs other countries issue a LICENSE. Big difference.
LMAO americans really take drunk driving to another level, from where I live your career is forever endangered the moment you get a DUI, and a celeb may never recover from it just from 0.03% blood alcohol. The fines here are way more expensive than the US too ($5k to $20k from 0.03-0.2% blood alcohol)
What do your racist remarks have to do with the story ?
You must live a sheltered life in a tier 1 city. Chinese are the biggest drunks.
Why do you consider comments about Americans racist? USA isn't a race
Ironic you're calling me racist when you're assuming I'm Chinese. I'm South Korean for all I care. And yes, Koreans are also the biggest drunks, possibly in the world, but we at least don't have people beating, shooting others, looting stores, and doing a crime spree in the name of "being oppressed by society"(LMAO), drunk, stoned, or not.
Besides, DUI laws are way too lax in the US, there's even news about an "affluenza"...
Ironic you're calling me racist when you're assuming I'm Chinese. I'm South Korean for all I care. And yes, Koreans are also the biggest drunks, possibly in the world, but we at least don't have people beating, shooting others, looting stores, and doing a crime spree in the name of "being oppressed by society"(LMAO), drunk, stoned, or not.
Besides, DUI laws are way too lax in the US, there's even news about an "affluenza" brat killing 4 people but got away with 10-year probation and no jail time, here you wouldn't even see the light of day after that.
"Ironic you're calling me racist when you're assuming I'm Chinese. I'm South Korean"
Funny. But ya know what's even funnier? That you seem to think anyone from "America" would care, or bother knowing the difference, for that matter. You could be a chaebol billionaire, but they'd see you as nothing more than some sweatshop kid putting chips into an iPhone, and couldn't possibly care less about your criticism. That's the true racism, but since we're...
"Ironic you're calling me racist when you're assuming I'm Chinese. I'm South Korean"
Funny. But ya know what's even funnier? That you seem to think anyone from "America" would care, or bother knowing the difference, for that matter. You could be a chaebol billionaire, but they'd see you as nothing more than some sweatshop kid putting chips into an iPhone, and couldn't possibly care less about your criticism. That's the true racism, but since we're just putting out cold hard facts, I figured we may as well tell the whole story.
I can't really expect people who couldn't locate their own country on the map to know crap about us. No wonder that country's average IQ are forever stuck on 2 digits. And oh, how's your 3rd runway?
"And oh, how's your 3rd runway?"
I'm not British nor do I live there, thus I've little reason to know or care.
But you sure are putting out some SDE with all this regional microaggression. Way to validate the stereotype.
As a lifelong American, it's sad to admit, but you're correct. We don't take many crimes here with even nearly-enough seriousness. Too much political influencing the doing what is just, including punishment of operating vehicles while imibtiated.
@Lucky
might find this interesting, a flight yesterday was diverted from EWR-MIA to FLL, then flew to Miami shortly thereafter.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL2295/history/20230726/2235Z/KFLL/KMIA
40 minutes from gate to gate, probably would have been faster to drive
Happens almost daily during south Florida summers. RSW diversions with continuations to MIA are even more common and pretty short time in the air