"Airbubba, thanks for the book reference, it makes interesting reading."


The capt had a colorful personality that some avoided prior to the '90 incident.

Glad it turned out well for both of them.

We all condemn the man for flying whilst drunk. How about flying when tired? It's just the same but deemed to be OK. I have many a time broken cloud before dawn to face a wet runway and crosswind landing when I have been in a far worse state than four pints of beer produces, just due to tiredness.

Ponshus, retired thank God.

Well said ponshus!

And this made 3 pages :D

:D

In the words of the late Bernard Manning, "drink and drive if you want to, nothing worse than being in a smash, sober...."

Nice way to close the 13th, Ginger. Always up for a laff. As I stumbled out of my fave drinkin hole, tried to put the keys in the slot, cop comes up to me & says " I hope you are not planning to drive ? " " Of course I am ", said I, " I am too pished to walk" !! Boom Boom !

Poor guy, what a shame to throw itvall a way over a beer, Will his loss of licence insurance cover this out of interest (if he had any)

One could also say, how many pilots in the last 10 years of aircraft crashes were under the influence and how many sober?, one bets that statistic will show it is safer to fly drunk.

As the UK drink driving deaths.....

• Nearly one in six of all deaths on the road involve drivers who are over the legal alcohol limit.

;)

So 5 out of 6 were sober? better drive drunk it's safer;)

NutLoose laments...


How about stupid ba$tard:*??? More appropriate term given the circumtances.

Loss of license insurance:D:D??? I wish it would cover for this type of loss of license. I think many would raise a glass to the honor of the stupid ba$tard:ok::}.

Then talk about a pilot shortage:E.

Six months seems a bit slight compared compared to the motoring world.

I hope the airline has taken action over the Captain's lack of situational awareness.

As this story made the press, you can be assured the travelling public won’t be seeing this miscreant on a United Express, or any other US carrier for the foreseeable future.


This event will no doubt appear on the list of his “FAA Violations and Actions” file.


That said, even his chances for employment overseas are down the drain too.


Yep… the world of aviation is now a safer place with one less toper out of the cockpit.

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve n
 

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
-Benjamin Franklin

I think what G-Hale was actually saying was "Innocent until proven guilty"

Mr. Franklin did not subscribe to "democracy" (No objections to free elections) "Do we have a democracy Mr. Franklin?" they asked after a lengthy constitutional convention. "No Sir, you have a Republic...if you can keep it!"

If we all hell bent on reversing (random searches, drug/alcohol tests without cause etc) that pillar of civilzed society.....then watch out!

The passengers were lucky, everyone died in this accident when the pilot was under the influence of drugs and booze


http://www.bfu-web.de/cln_030/nn_226..._Egelsbach.pdf

Shell Management
 

Your quote is in regard to PPL's - not Professional Pilots - as such I do not see the point of your post.

The point of his post, like most of his posts on here, is to stir cr@p up & berate pilots whilst trumpeting the high health & safety standards & work ethics of the oil/gas industry.

Agenda ? bigoted ? frustrated pilot training reject ? or just a pain in the hole?

Have a read of previous posting history & make your own mind up.

Shell Mismanagement...
 

A nice headline grabbing statement again by you.

As has been pointed out, it was a PPL operation.

Also the drugs involved were anti-Parkinson drugs (I do not off hand know whether these are allowed by an AME or not) and the alcohol was:

So not ideal conditions for flight, but not quite the "drugs and booze" fuelled flight you are trying to make it out to be.

Exeng, PPL holders can be perfectly professional pilots just as some Commercial pilots are not professional - there is a difference (and I don't mean in the licence held.)
The reaction on here to Commercial pilots who are convicted of flying with alcohol levels above the legal limit never ceases to amaze me. ANY pilot who flies in such a state is breaking the law and acting unprofessionally just as any driver breaking the legal limit would be. There is, therefore, no good reason why a pilot should be treated more leniently than a driver. NONE WHATSOEVER. It isn't just pilots who can lose their livelihood by having such a conviction, it happens to drivers too but for some reason a convicted driver doesn't attract an outbreak of hysteria demanding that (s)he should be treated differently. It's time to stop this ridiculous attitude and the pathetic attempts to justify the unjustifiable. If you have been drinking you should not fly/drive/operate machinery/ go to work if you are a doctor/nurse or other person in a position involving the care of other people etc. The same applies to those who take drugs.
Before anyone asks, I have never drunk alcohol and driven, flown or gone to work, nor do I have any convictions for doing so. I do think such people should be offered as much help as possible. I also happen to think that discussing a case before it has been to court is not sensible as a wrongly accused person can have his or her life ruined by such speculation - the old "There's no smoke without fire" saying. I also have absolutely NO problem with people enjoying alcoholic beverages - just not to the extent where they affect others.

Differing views
 

Balzer's book is a disturbing example of self-delusion and his account, which included portraying himself as the victim of a tyrannical captain (me), provoked a firestorm of letters from NWA pilots and Flt Attendants.

Some 67 letters went to the publisher but the most telling of all was a single letter from the President/CEO of NWA (at the time of the incident) that said if even a miniscule bit of his portrayal of me had been true I'd never have been brought back to fly at Northwest.

I later (Nov '11) published a memoir entitled "Final Approach" in which I told the nakedly true story of what took place, which includes my role in it. I make no excuses, blame no one, and I lay it all out as it actually occurred. Unlike Balzer, I did not take any creative license and manipulate the truth and the facts.

His account is so horribly fictitious with invented events that never took place and conversations that never occurred, that I was hard-pressed to find anything at all that was marginally recognizable from the standpoint of truth. And even then, they were so hyper embellished and exaggerated that they did not fall within the zone of truthfulness.

Balzer has since fallen on some more hard times of his own making but I wish him well. No one enjoys watching someone suffer...but he's been his own worst enemy since our fateful flight.

FOs showing up drunk...Captains ratting out their FOs...