The Deltoids seem to be on a roll with bad pilot publicity:
Delta suspends jailed pilot
By Megan Matteucci
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
6:12 p.m. Thursday, November 12, 2009
Delta Air Lines has suspended a pilot while officials investigate charges he tried to run over two Griffin police officers with his private plane.
Dan Wayne Gryder, 48, remains in the Spalding County jail, charged with two counts of aggravated assault and obstruction. He is being held without bond and is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday, the sheriff’s office said.
Gryder, a Delta pilot and private aircraft instructor, was arrested Wednesday at the Griffin-Spalding Airport.
“He is suspended pending the completion into the investigation in this incident,” Delta spokesman Anthony Black said Thursday.
The FAA is also investigating Wednesday's incident and could revoke Gryder's pilot's license or issue additional sanctions.
"If it was a violation, it would be a civil matter not a criminal matter," FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.
Griffin code enforcement officers were called to the airport on Wednesday for a report of a pilot disrupting the airport. Gryder was driving his car across the runway and taxiway, Griffin Police Investigator Bryan Clanton said.
The two officers approached the suspect and he gave them a fake name. After learning the pilot was Gryder, the officers attempted to issue him six citations, police said.
However, Gryder refused to sign the tickets and boarded his plane, a 1937 DC-3A. He started the engine and told one of the officers that if she moved, he would strike her, police said.
The officer, who was standing next to the prop, moved out of the way and summoned backup.
Additional Griffin officers and Spalding County deputies flooded the area and ordered him to stop, but Gryder continued to taxi down the runway, police said.
Gryder got to the end of the runway and attempted to take off, but he was out of gas.
Police arrested Gryder and transported him to jail.
Gryder’s actions disrupted air traffic, prohibiting flights from departing or arriving, police said.
“He essentially shut the airport down for almost 45 minutes,” Clanton said. “His actions created a danger for all of our officers, himself and others who lawfully use the airport.”
Gryder has a history of disturbances at the Griffin airport, including previous complaints of him illegally driving his car on the runways, according to Robert Mohl, the airport's director.
“He’s done it before and he’s been warned," Mohl said...
http://www.ajc.com/news/delta-suspen...ot-195178.html
We certainly don't have as many colorful 'cowboys' as a couple of decades ago but some folks still push the envelope with law enforcement in the flying business.
These guys are job security for management pilots.