Originally Posted by
CISTRS
There seems to be too much tolerance in this thread - almost as if there is a collusion that we all know it goes on, and this poor guy got caught. His sentence is not for his disease - which is quite irrelevant - but for his unprofessional conduct.
Then I suggest you re-read the thread more closely - no-one that I know of has condoned this pilot's conduct, including - importantly - those who have been in a similar situation themselves and managed to recover their lives and careers.
As for "collusion", the fact it that yes, it does go on - to deny it would be to stick one's head in the sand. Denial of such on the part of the industry as a whole would be even more dangerous than the denial of the individual when it comes to admitting they have a problem.
So let's be clear - turning up for work over the proscribed blood alcohol limit is unprofessional and to do so merits severe sanction, as much for the health of the individual concerned as for their colleagues and passengers. I don't think anyone would disagree with that. However, with the correct treatment alcoholism (and many other substance dependencies) can be and are remedied - and if an individual goes on to seek help and recover, then a career "life sentence" is unwarranted. This does not however mean that it is likely to be easy, nor should it be.