Pilots 'operate' plane even on ground, AmWest exec testifies
Associated Press
May. 31, 2005 06:11 PM
MIAMI - A veteran pilot testified Tuesday that two pilots accused of being drunk while operating an America West passenger plane at Miami International Airport were technically operating the plane even if it was still on the ground.
Called by prosecutors, Capt. Joseph Chronic, vice president for flight operations for America West, struck at a key part of the defense's strategy in describing at length what the airline requires a pilot and co-pilot to do to prepare a plane for flight.
Defense lawyers for pilot Thomas Cloyd of Peoria, Ariz., and co-pilot Christopher Hughes, of Leander, Texas, had argued that that the pilots were not impaired. They also said the steering was disengaged from the cockpit and neither pilot could actually operate the plane as it was being tugged toward or away from the runway.
Chronic said that pilots are considered to be operating the aircraft even during their walk-around inspection of the plane and their preflight checks in the cockpit.
"During the preflight checks they were operating the plane," said Chronic, who has been with America West for 4 1/2 years and has worked as a commercial pilot for 33 years.
Last week, Miami-Dade Sgt. Steven Leibowitz said he tested both pilots after their plane was ordered back to its gate before it could take off for Phoenix on July 1, 2002.
He said he gave them the test between 11:30 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. Earlier testimony showed the pilots left a bar in the trendy Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami at about 4:40 a.m. after a night of drinking.
Leibowitz said he judged the alcohol level for both to be at 0.10. Florida's legal limit for driving is 0.08.
Tuesday, Leibowitz was asked by the defense why the pilots were not handcuffed after the tests.
"They weren't handcuffed because people didn't need to see two pilots walking the steep stairs handcuffed," Leibowitz said. "It was more important for public safety that they not see two pilots in handcuffs."...
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...lots31-ON.html
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Posted on Thu, Jun. 02, 2005
Officer: Pilot admitted to drinking
By ADRIAN SAINZ
The Associated Press
A police officer testified Wednesday that a pilot accused of being drunk while operating an America West passenger jet told him during a breath test that he had had ''too many'' drinks the night before the flight to Phoenix was to take off.
Pilot Thomas Cloyd and co-pilot and co-defendant Christopher Hughes were polite and cooperative but had reddened faces and bloodshot eyes during the test at Miami International Airport on July 1, 2002, said Miami-Dade County Police Officer Harold Ruffner.
And, contradicting a defense strategy, Ruffner said both pilots acknowledged that they were ''operating'' the Airbus, which was ordered back to the terminal after being towed part of the way out so it could get into position for take off.
Defense attorneys have argued in nine days of testimony that Cloyd and Hughes were not impaired and that the pilots were not operating the plane anyway because the steering was disengaged from the cockpit as it was being tugged toward or away from the runway.
The pilots were arrested after a DUI vision test by another officer, and Ruffner testified that they were taken to a nearby police station where he administered the breath test. Cloyd breathed 0.091 and 0.090 during his, and Hughes 0.084 and 0.081 on his, Ruffner said. Florida's legal limit for DUI is 0.08.
Ruffner said he asked Cloyd how many drinks he had consumed.
''He said he had too many,'' Ruffner said, noting that the smell of alcohol was ``present and detectable.''
Ruffner said Hughes responded ''many'' to the consumption question, and both pilots then acknowledged they were operating the plane as it was being towed...
...Defense attorney Daniel Foodman presented evidence showing that the machine used for the breath test was eight years old and he called it ''outdated.'' Ruffner acknowledged that there have been improvements in breath test technology since the machine was put in use but said there was no reason to question it.
Ruffner also testified that neither Cloyd nor Hughes had slurred speech or showed problems walking or standing.
Earlier Wednesday, the defense hammered away at Capt. Joseph Chronic, vice president for flight operations for America West, on the issue of whether the pilots were actually operating the plane.
For the second day, Chronic testified that the pilots were technically operating the plane even if it was still on the ground and being towed to the runway. He said pilots assume operational control during their preflight checks.
But on cross examination he did acknowledge that the pilots were not in ''physical control'' of the plane when it was being towed.
''The tug driver would be steering the airplane at that point,'' Chronic said.
Prosecutor Armando Hernandez questioned Chronic again, and Chronic testified that the ''physical act of the captain releasing the parking brake is operating'' the aircraft and the fact that it was being towed was ``irrelevant.''
''The intent was to fly from Miami to Phoenix,'' Chronic said...
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11791284.htm