(NEXSTAR) – A pilot flying for Southwest Airlines was terminated after failing a field sobriety test only moments before he was scheduled to take off from the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport earlier this year.
Footage of the incident, released by airport officials last week, shows the pilot being given a field sobriety test on the jetway. The video shows him being taken into custody by airport police after an officer told the pilot he detected “signs … consistent with DUI.”
“The Employee was removed from duty immediately after the alleged incident and no longer is employed by Southwest Airlines,” a spokesperson for Southwest wrote in a statement shared with Nexstar. “Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees.
Even if a pilot suspected of being inebriated were to pass a field sobriety test, it’s quite possible the pilot would still be prohibited from flying. In order to safely operate an aircraft, the Code of Federal Regulations requires that pilots meet several standards for sobriety.
Civil aviation regulations under the FAA stipulate that pilots cannot operate a civil aircraft (1) within eight hours after the consumption of any alcoholic beverage; (2) while under the influence of alcohol; (3) while using any drug that affects the person’s faculties in any way contrary to safety, or (4) while having an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater in a blood or breath specimen.
A representative for the FAA confirmed that pilots must meet all criteria to safely operate a civil aircraft. For instance, a pilot who exhibits a blood-alcohol level of only 0.01, but who consumed an alcoholic beverage less than eight hours ago, is still considered unfit to fly.
The consequences for violating the above requirements can result in arrest, suspension or permanent revocation of a pilot’s license, among other penalties. Employers are also instructed to “permanently preclude” offenders from performing their previous “safety-sensitive duties.”
If a pilot should meet the above sobriety requirements, but is nevertheless found to have a blood-alcohol concentration greater than 0.02, they must still be removed from performing safety-sensitive functions (e.g., operating a plane) until they are considered more fit to do so, according to federal regulations.
The rules outlined in the Code of Federal Regulations are also considered by the FAA to be the “minimum” requirements concerning alcohol.
“Ideally, total avoidance of alcohol should be a key element observed by every pilot in planning or accomplishing a flight,” the FAA writes in its Alcohol and Flying Brochure.
The agency also recommends that pilots do not drink alcoholic beverages in the 24 hours before flying.
“This is especially true if intoxication occurred or if you plan to fly [Instrument Flight Rules],” the brochure reads.
The Southwest pilot who was taken into custody in Georgia, meanwhile, has since denied he was under the influence of alcohol during his arrest. His lawyer, speaking with The Independent last week, has alleged that officers administered the sobriety tests incorrectly and that the pilot had “committed no crime.”
A representative for the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport did not return a request for further information. A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines was unable to comment on legal matters.
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