Transatlantic pilot 'more than six times over alcohol flying limit'

[babylonsister]

:scared: :scared: :scared:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23389549-details/Transatlantic+pilot+'more+than+six+times+over+alcohol+flying+limit'/article.do

Transatlantic pilot 'more than six times over alcohol flying limit'
19.03.07



Pilot James Yates was almost six and a half times over the drink limit to fly a plane when he turned up at Heathrow

An airline pilot turned up for work while almost six and a half times over the drink limit to fly a plane, a court has heard.

American James Yates, 46, smelled strongly of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet when he turned up for duty at Manchester Airport, it has been claimed.

A First Officer with American Airlines, he was to be one of three pilots on a 10.30am transatlantic flight to Chicago with 181 passengers on board on February 11 last year, Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court was told.

But when he went to go through a security gate for flight crew in his pilots uniform he could not find his identification security pass.

Security staff could smell drink and called in police, who arrested Yates. He then failed a breathalyser test, Martin Walsh, prosecuting, told the jury.

more...

[donco6]

1. Another reason not to fly American.

Seriously, I hate flying that airline.

[ourbluenation]

7. My sis has been an AA flight attendant for years....she's lost a lot of seniority due to lay offs...

and is generally grumpy working there.

[karlrschneider]

10. How does someone lose seniority by having others laid off?

???

[ourbluenation]

11. no one to be senior "over"...she worked for years to get off of reserve (on-call)

after all these years, in her 40s she's back on reserve - every other month she can't make any plans and has to be within an hour from the airport at any time.

[geardaddy]

12. Remember the pilot

from Northworst? That's the first time I had heard of a pilot showing up rat-assed to fly a plane.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. No one ever said...

That getting shitfaced made you smarter. Here's Exhibit A.

[TahitiNut]

3. He shouldn't be a pilot. He should be a captain of oil tankers for Exxon.

:puke:

[babylonsister]

4. How 'bout an inmate? He can dry out for awhile. nt

[regnaD kciN]

5. I don't think the pilot was the only one drunk here...

Something should be said about a reporter who identifies this as happening "at Heathrow," then, two paragraphs later "at Manchester Airport."

That's a little like saying that there was a security violation "at JFK" which happened "at Chicago O'Hare." :crazy:

[karlrschneider]

9. Good catch, I'm embarrassed I didn't notice THAT inconsistency.

:eyes:

[geardaddy]

14. Oh, all those English cities are the same.

:sarcasm:

It looks like they changed it in the on-line version now.

[MannyGoldstein]

6. I Was Out Drinking With A Pilot And Co-Pilot Once

They were stinkingstinkingstinking drunk when the co-pilot said "jeez - we better get some sleep, we gotta fly in five hours". I was appalled - they thought it was funny that I was appalled. This was more than a decade ago - now I think I'd call someone and let then know.

[karlrschneider]

8. Major contradiction in this "report":

"The legal limit for driving a car is 35 micrograms and for an aircraft is nine micrograms, the jury were told.

Yates was arrested and taken to Altrincham Police Station where a doctor took a blood sample.

This gave a result of 129 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, the court was told. The legal limit for flying an aircraft is 20 micrograms.

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I'm not defending a drunken pilot (although I once was, by necessity) but this story is full of holes.

[LSK]

13. and people wonder why I never fly...

[karlrschneider]

15. I'd rather be riding with a tipsy pilot than on the road full of truckers on speed.

...

[leftofthedial]

16. that guy is just plain stupid

[northzax]

17. why is there any limit for flying a plane?

shouldn't the limit be, I don't know...ZERO? call me crazy, but sheesh.