Jungle Jet Alcohol Incident at KLIT
Three Airline Workers Off the Job
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 6:50 a.m. ET
DALLAS (AP) -- Two pilots for Mesa Airlines were suspended without pay and a flight attendant left the carrier after airport security screeners smelled alcohol on them as they were about to board their flight, Mesa officials said.
One pilot tested positive for alcohol use, and the Federal Aviation Administration is seeking revocation of his license, said John Clabes, FAA spokesman for the Southwest Region.
The three employees' names were not released.
"We're taking the matter very seriously,'' Brian Gillman, vice president and general counsel for Phoenix-based Mesa Airlines told The Dallas Morning News for its Tuesday editions. "It's under investigation.''
The pilots and attendant were stopped about 2:40 p.m. Friday as they were about to board an Embraer 145, a small regional jet operated under a joint agreement and flying as US Airways Express, Clabes said. The pilots had been scheduled to fly the plane from Little Rock, Ark., to Charlotte, N.C.
When security screeners suspected they had been drinking, all three were given alcohol breath tests.
Gillman said the airline has a "zero-tolerance'' policy on operating aircraft under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The suspension without pay will continue until the investigation is completed, Gillman said.
The flight attendant left the company Saturday, the newspaper said, adding that it was unclear whether the flight attendant was asked to resign.