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'Flying Drunk' Shares Pilots' Struggle to Overcome Alcohol


US Politics & Gov't  (tags: government, federal prison, Flying drunk, pilots, airlines, alcohol, drugs, addictions, accidents, risks, unsafe, crime )

Dee
- 111 days ago - abcnews.go.com
New Memoir Reveals Alcoholism Among Commercial Airline Pilots.. Deep in his heart, Joseph Balzer knew it was wrong. But the night before he and two other pilots were scheduled to transport 91 passengers from Fargo, N.D., to Minneapolis, Minn.,
Comments

Dee C. (513)
Friday August 14, 2009, 1:29 pm
"The next morning, with blood-alcohol levels above the legal limit for pilots, the three men strapped down in the cockpit and took off. But when they landed, they faced, arguably, the most devastating day of their lives.

After tests that morning in March 1990 revealed that their blood-alcohol levels were above the 0.04 percent limit for pilots, the men, who worked for Northwest Airlines, were arrested for intoxication. Later, all three were convicted, sent to federal prison and stripped of their pilot's licenses."

Read more at site..
 

Barbarocat Kay (648)
Friday August 14, 2009, 3:59 pm
Thank goodness my pilot boyfriend doesn't fly drunk. Thanks Dee.
 

Dee C. (513)
Friday August 14, 2009, 9:28 pm
That's a good thing Barb..

Bad enough with drunk drivers..we don't need drunken pilots..That's a very scary thought..
 

Feisty McLeod (75)
Saturday August 15, 2009, 1:42 pm
When I was in Papua New Guinea I was very familiar with the problem, and I am not a pilot. But I saw pilots party to oblivion and get up early the next day to fly. FACT: You are probably still carrying a significant portion of ETOH in your blood if you try to work early after a drunken night out. And we are not even considering how even a hangover can impair the need for high functioning abilities to perceive, react and make split-second safety judgments. It has occurred to me more than once before I fly that I would kind of like to interview the pilot first. But that is just a thought :)
 

Val P. (0)
Saturday August 15, 2009, 2:38 pm
i hate flying. and i certainly hate flying wondering whether or not the pilots flying the machine transporting me from point A to point B might be intoxicated.

since the homeland security has made everyone's lives a living hell in airports all over america with THEIR precautionary actions, why don't they administer breathalizer tests on every pilot?

oh,... too costly, too much time, too.. whatever? then reconsider how much has been WASTED in the measures taken in the last decade administered by individuals paid 10 bucks an hour to ensure a more secure homeland..
 

Dee C. (513)
Thursday August 20, 2009, 8:48 pm
Well I am glad the the security is still there..no matter how inconvenient it does make most feel safer..

But on the breathalyzer ..I absolutely agree they should all have one done before flying..That is just insane to think of a drunken or high pilot..Just insane..and wrong..
 
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