Sat, Jan 15, 2005
AirTran FFDO captain arrested after screener smells alcohol,
fails breathalizer
An armed AirTran
Airways captain and federal flight deck officer was arrested in the
cockpit of his aircraft on Thursday at Las Vegas' McCarran
International airport after a screener said the pilot smelled of
alcohol as he passed a checkpoint.
Officers from the Las Vegas Police Department were called to the
scene and arrested Paul Reason, Jr., 37 and an AirTrain pilot since
1994. Shortly thereafter, Reason was given a breathalyzer test,
which he failed, according to a police report given to the
airline.
The airline has issued a statement from its Orlando (FL)
headquarters in which they state that safery procedures were
followed to make sure the aircraft did not leave the gate with the
intoxicated pilot at the controls.
"The captain neither
took command of the aircraft nor was the aircraft operated in any
manner," said the statement. The airline issued an apology to the
passengers of the flight, which as subsequently cancelled. The
pilot, who on Thursday was being held at the Clark County Jail, has
been suspended by the TSA as an FFDO, and has also been suspended
indefinitely from pilot duties by his employer pending the outcome
of an investigation into the incident.
(On the last day of 2004, ANN ran an editorial
with our assessment of the state of aero-security in the United
States. In it, we mentioned that the FFDO program
should continue to be carefully and slowly implemented, and then
again only after stringent security and psychological screening of
the candidates. Ed. JJ)
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