Continental Pilot "Unfit" for Duty at IAH

[Airbubba]

Continental pilot taken off plane

Tuesday, October 15, 2002 Posted: 11:50 PM EDT (0350 GMT)

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Continental Airlines removed a pilot from a plane before takeoff Tuesday after receiving a report he might be drunk.

"He did not appear to be fit for duty and we took him off the plane," said Continental spokeswoman Julie King.

She said the pilot, whose name was not released, 'has been removed from service" while the case was under review. King would not elaborate about the alleged incident but said the Federal Aviation Administration had been notified.

Flight 1086 was at the gate at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston preparing to take off for Orlando, Florida, when the pilot left the aircraft.

King said the pilot had not flown other planes during the day.

Earlier this year, two America West pilots were charged with operating an aircraft while intoxicated. Their trial initially was set for October 21 but has been pushed back for two weeks to give the defense and prosecutors more time to prepare.

Prosecutors say the pilots, Thomas Cloyd, 44, and Christopher Hughes, 41, drank at a Miami bar hours before they prepared to take off on a flight to Phoenix.

Prosecutors accuse them of knowing their alleged action could result in harm to others. Both pleaded not guilty to this and two other charges: driving while impaired, a misdemeanor, and operating an aircraft while intoxicated, a felony.

Their trial is scheduled for November 4.

[dc8skippy]

It is beyond me why these clowns believe they can get around the system and not get caught. I don't care if you're an alcoholic or not. common sense should tell you that at least you're risking your career and at worst the lives in the airplane with you. I would hope that there were more "self policeing" going on and that the pilot your schedualed to fly with could talk you in to taking the day off sick. :confused:

[canberra]

what about the ba pilot who failed a breath test driving home after flying a 747 from lax to lhr?

[Airbubba]

Looks like this time it was the air marshal, not the screeners that got him. Of course, he is presumed innocent etc., etc., etc...


______________________________________


October 16, 2002

Pilot Tests Positive for Alcohol
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 1:53 p.m. ET


HOUSTON (AP) -- A Continental Airlines pilot who was pulled from a flight after an altercation with a federal air marshal tested positive for alcohol, the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday.

The marshal notified the airline following the confrontation Tuesday.

The plane was going from Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston to Orlando, Fla., loaded with 154 passengers. The crew, which was coming off an 18-hour rest, was replaced, and the Boeing 737-900 took off 30 minutes late.

The Federal Aviation Administration investigation into the incident is continuing, and the pilot was grounded pending the outcome.

Continental spokeswoman Julie King said alcohol was involved but refused to disclose additional details.

"Someone did notice that he did not appear to be fit for flying,'' King said. "Continental does not tolerate any deviation from regulations pertaining to 'fitness for duty.'''

[juliet]

pilots are always going to fly hungover or worse. try and find someone who hasn't been out till 3am with an 8am t/o, its just not going to happen. i know this is going to sound bad as well, but people do tend to make a bigger effort when they are suffering from the night before. sure its bad, but its not going to change.

[ECWK]

Juliet's reply beggars belief.

[BlueEagle]

CANBERRA - More than one pilot has failed a breath test on the way home from the airport. Once upon a time it was not unusual to have what was known as a 'landing drink' once engines were shut down, sometimes this might be followed up with a couple with the cabin crew, in a suitable room, provided it was otherwise all quiet e.g the wee small hours of the morning.

This subject has been discussed here quite recently.

[Earthmover]

Well you don't have to look far .. you just found one - me. I am not holier than thou, I am not 'dry' and I am not alone by a long, long way. I just don't believe in mixing booze and flying, and neither, I venture, does anyone with half a brain.

OK? Now I suggest you drop it. Thanks.

[411A]

BlueEagle
Ah yes, the good 'ole days. Always appreciated "reverse thrust" courtesy of the cabin chief.

Now OTOH, noticed one very early morning at the Truck in NRT ( early nineties), a CX F/O and F/E having more than a few, along with a fair number of their cabin crew, all having a good time. The F/E was so ah...disoriented that he fell in the canal behind, trying to have a pee. Asked the F/O what their call time was and he mentioned 6:15am, just a short five hours away. Suggested that they both join me for coffee at the ANA hotel, which was just adjacent...glad to say they did.
I'm sure you'll agree that sometimes folks get a little carried away.

[Phil Squares]

I am certainly no "tea tottler" however, I do have some common sense. Your comments about pilots in general are an insult to our profession. I think you'll find that pilot's as a group have fewer alcoholics than the general public. That has certainly been validated in the states by random testing. To make a generalization like that is very dangerous. I don't see anything about physicians who self medicate or drink and then perform surgery. But afterall, that is not headline news.......:mad:

[Airbubba]

Continental fires pilot for drinking

Thursday, October 17, 2002 Posted: 5:37 PM EDT (2137 GMT)

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Continental Airlines said Thursday it has fired a pilot who was accused of reporting to work drunk.

The 15-year veteran tested positive for alcohol and was dismissed, said Jeff Awalt, a spokesman for the Houston-based carrier.

The pilot, who has not been identified publicly, had been scheduled to fly Flight 1086 Tuesday from Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston to Orlando, Florida.

He boarded the Boeing 737-900, loaded with 154 passengers, and had "a confrontational conversation" with an air marshal aboard the plane, said John Clabes, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman in Dallas.

The air marshal notified Continental, and airline officials removed the crew, which was coming off an 18-hour rest, with another crew. The flight took off 30 minutes late.

The FAA's investigation into the incident is continuing.

[BlueEagle]

Interesting, Juliet seems to have the same trouble with his/her keyboard as Canberra, inability to type capital letters!

Could also be a 'journo' - either way I think the 'juliet' posting is intended as a wind-up.

[Vsf]

I happen to be a journalist as well as a pilot, and one glaring anomoly catches my eye: The pilot tested "positive," ok...but the quantity was not specified. In the U.S., the threshold is 0.04 percent blood alchohol content.

No such quantification has been noted in any piece I read.

Until we see some hard figures, I think this is clearly a wait and see deal. I suspect there is far more to this story than meets the eye. Please, folks, share whatever details you may find.

[HiSpeedTape]

Something similar happened to a Britannia First Officer in KSFB last week. Hauled off the aircraft by the Feds after security personnel had reported their suspicions about his condition to the FAA. This happened with all the passengers already on board the aircraft awaiting their return flight to the UK.

[BOING]

I am afraid we have started a fashion of anybody who feels like it calling a pilot for any type of begaviour they do not like. Nasty because I act extremely oddly any time I have to be at work before 0700 my local time! (The fact that the suspicious people have been right more than once does not help.)

Wonder who you sue for humiliation etc if you are incorrectly fingered. TSA workers in the US are probably immune to retribution for anything short of death by chocking.

[Vsf]

Boing,

Sadly, you can't generally sue anyone, not effectively. Gov't is beyond liability usually. Ditto for the press--libel laws in the United States are far different than in, say, Britian, where many (most?) PPRUNE posters hail from. That's not to say that lawsuits are not succesfully persued in that realm, but it is to say that incorrect reporting that kills your career is not anything you can likely seek damages for.

Having your career stolen from you on a whim is, tragically, an occupational hazard in the U. S. these days for airline pilots.

But that's all in the abstract. I'm *still* curious about the utter lack of quantification (BAC) about the Continental pilot at issue.

[Wiley]

Maybe it’s time IFALPA came out with a set of protocols to be followed if a pilot is accused by ground or security staff (or pax) of being under the effects of alcohol. At the very least, the accuser should be required to put his or her allegations in writing – and sign them.

I daresay this simple measure, particularly in the overly litigious USA, would reduce the number of accusations quite remarkably.

[Bubbette]

Re "Juliet", since this is the first and only post by this person, I also think it's a journalist or someone else looking to get some pilots to admit to improper behavior--see the red warning at the bottom of the page!

[Roadtrip]

Actually, considering the vast numbers of commercial pilots world-wide, it's suprising that there aren't more of these incidents. That said, it's up to us as a profession to keep our own act clean . . . . high standards both of technical expertise and personal responsibility. If you know of an alcoholic pilot in your company, get the person help, get them fixed . . . . or if they tell you to ******-off, get them OUT of the profession. I owe ZERO loyalty to pilot drunks who won't get help. Union professional standards representatives know how to investigate allegations of alcoholism, and can save careers and lives . . . . assuming the individual really wants saving.

Silence and toleration are not options.

[ironbutt57]

Sadly in recent times most of the accusers have been correct...if they had been under threat of legal action, they might not have made their accusations, thus an aircraft might have been operated by an impaired flightcrew...which is prefereable? As long as accusations are followed up by a proper investigation, I have no problem with it...

[Master Caution]

:cool:

411A,
There was a time in the early 90's when there was a regular DT pattern for CX crew - operate into NRT, big night at the Truck then DT home early next a.m. on a different A/C type.

Hopefully it was this crew you met;)

There was one famous case where the crew arrived back at the HOTAC at 3am and turned up in the lobby in uniform a few hours later. The same clerk was behind the desk and he shopped them to CX.

It turned out to be a storm in a tea cup since the scenario was as described above.:D (DT crew required to be in uniform ex Japan).

[411A]

Master Caution

Hey, you could be right, but OTOH it was a TriStar both days...:rolleyes:
Anyway...all's well that ends well.

[saudipc-9]

Vsf,
A Journalist AND a pilot. Well, talk about good cop / bad cop:D

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time!!!!!!!

[Kalium Chloride]

If 'juliet' is a journalist then she/he is a pretty poor one. There's been enough cases involving pilots and alcohol in the last few months -- it's hardly news any more.

While I believe (and hope) that it's only a few misguided members of the profession who step over that line, I do wonder whether we'll someday be hearing about the unlucky one via a post-accident autopsy.

[saudipc-9]

KC,
Don't fret too much. The gate jockeys at security and air marshals will keep us pilots from hurting ourselves. Rumor has it they soon will be able to fly the jet too:rolleyes:

[Ignition Override]

Even if a stupid pilot had one beer and measured over the legal limit (thus ending their career), the FAA then gladly turns a blind eye to anyone on duty, without a rest period, for up to 16 hours or so, as long as they began after a minimum of about 6 solid hours in a noisy hotel room (includes a little reading, sleeping, showering) and this is certainly "legal", according to our guardian angels with the FAA.


As suggested years ago by another pilot, maybe it is time we shutdown all US law schools for a few years until the huge excess of attorneys dries up ("write home when you find work"). Nothing personal, I suppose, but ask me if I care.

[Lu Zuckerman]

How about this? Two pilots were seen drinking prior to a flight but they were not detained nor were they arrested. The reason for this was that in that state (Minnesota) it was not against the law to fly while under the influence. They allowed the pilots to fly to their destination where they were arrested because in that state (Michigan) it was against the law to fly while under the influence. Who would be at fault if perchance the pilots were unable to correct a problem and the airliner crashed. The police and airport authorities knew of their condition and did nothing about it and left it up to the legal authorities at the destination to enforce the law. It’s situations like this that cause lawyers to salivate.

:eek:

[stargazer02]

J
so where do you get your opinion...is it your infinite experience flying the line....or just from watching the C4 program on a few well placed shots of BA pilots???
I know of alot of pilots who take their careers very seriously and will not be out till 3am with an 8am t/o.....
Perhaps you might expand on your knowledge??????

[Airbubba]

Here's an update:


Continental pilot was drunk, breath tests show

Friday, January 03, 2003

BY AL FRANK
[EWR] Star-Ledger Staff

Two breath tests given to a Continental Airlines pilot after he was removed from the cockpit of a Florida-bound jet showed alcohol concentrations almost three times higher than allowed by federal rules, according to documents obtained by The Star-Ledger.

Roger Andre Bousquet, a Newark Liberty International Airport-based pilot, was fired two days after seating himself at the controls of the Oct. 15 flight from Houston to Orlando. Two weeks later, his pilot's license was revoked by the Federal Aviation Administration, a decision Bousquet has appealed.

According to the FAA's emergency order, breath tests administered to Bousquet minutes after he was escorted from the Boeing 737's cockpit showed alcohol concentrations of 0.114 and 0.108.

Federal "bottle-to-throttle" rules prohibit pilots from operating aircraft within eight hours of consuming alcohol or if they have a blood-alcohol level of 0.04 percent or greater. Under New Jersey's motor vehicle laws, a driver with readings of 0.10 or higher is considered drunk.

In papers filed by his union's attorney, the 15-year-veteran pilot admits taking the two Breathalyzer tests, administered 18 minutes apart, but contests the results.

Bousquet's test results were among the highest of the more than half-dozen drunken pilot cases that surfaced last year. The most notorious was that of two America West pilots ordered back to the gate after they began taxiing their plane to a Miami International Airport runway for a July 1 flight to Phoenix. Thomas Cloyd and Christopher Hughes were fired and lost their licenses after tests showed they had alcohol concentrations greater than 0.08.

Just last Thursday, a Delta pilot had a 0.07 reading after baggage screeners alerted Norfolk Airport Authority officers they had detected an odor of alcohol on the breath of co-pilot Gary Schroeder after he reported for a flight to Cincinnati.

Despite the recent incidents, the FAA said such cases are unusual. In 2000, the last year for which complete data are available, nine pilots tested over the limit out of 10,419 random tests administered by the airlines. The year before, five violations were uncovered out of 10,257 checks.

"The numbers haven't changed much, but my theory is the reporting has improved with more skilled, professional screeners," said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association.

According to the documents, a Continental gate agent and two federal air marshals detected alcohol on Bousquet's breath and notified assistant chief pilots George Fox and Loyd Robeson. The Continental pilot managers then escorted Bousquet from Flight 1086 to the airport clinic, where the tests were administered.

Unlike other cases, where the pilots' interaction with airport police led to the disclosure of their names, Bousquet's removal was made by Continental. The airline and the FAA then cited privacy rules in declining to release his name.

His identity and other details were contained in documents released by the FAA in response to the newspaper's request under the Freedom of Information Act.

While Continental's corporate policies provide some latitude in dealing with minor infractions of its "fitness for duty" code, it has "zero tolerance" when federal regulations are violated. A spokesman declined comment yesterday.

Continental pulled Bousquet and the first officer from duty about 40 minutes before the jet, with 154 passengers, was due to leave George Bush Intercontinental Airport. According to the FAA, the first officer's test was negative but a replacement crew completed the flight.

After the FAA issued an emergency order revoking Bousquet's airman's and medical certificates, the Continental unit of the Air Line Pilots Association appealed the decision to the National Transportation Safety Board, where the case is pending.

In the papers, attorney Michael Welsh said Bousquet complied with the eight-hour restriction and contended Department of Transportation procedures were not observed in administering the breath test.

Welsh did not return a call yesterday and a woman answering the phone at Bousquet's home in Florida said he was not there.

[HotDog]

411A, if you think it was appropriate to specify CX as the airline crew in the truck, instead of inviting them to the ANA and further delaying their arrival for rest at the Narita Winds, you should have reported them to CX Narita ops. You just can't leave well alone! Can you, you old f@rt?