On Monday, British police arrested a United Airlines pilot after he failed a breathalyzer test. The pilot, who apparently had already boarded a Boeing 767, was preparing the fly the aircraft from London’s Heathrow airport to Chicago. Scotland Yard reports that they charged the 51-year old pilot, Erwin Washington of Lakewood, CO, with having too much alcohol in his system while working as a member of aviation staff. The flight was cancelled and the plane’s 124 passengers were rebooked on other flights.
This incident comes on top of a series of recent pilot lapses that...
leave some questioning what’s happening to the airline pilot profession. In a little more than a year, three airline pilots, two from United and a third from American Airlines, have been arrested in Heathrow for being under the influence of alcohol. In October alone, a Boeing 767 landed on an active taxiway in Atlanta, a Northwest Airlines A320 overflew it’s Minneapolis destination while the pilots were out of radio communication for over an hour and a Midwest Airlines regional jet nearly taxied into the path of a jet taking off at LAX. CNN quotes a United pilot, who didn’t want to be identified, as saying that these incidents point to an "industry that is running on the ragged edge. ... It's a completely different life than people think."
Yet despite the large amount of publicity from these incidents, they remain relatively rare. In 2008, just 13 pilots were identified violating the FAA’s alcohol rules that require no drinking in the 8 hours preceding a flight and a blood alcohol level of less than 0.04.
Alcoholism among pilots—or in any profession—is not new. For decades, coworkers covered for each other, knowing that if a pilot were caught drunk he would be fired and have difficulty making a living and supporting his family. Not until the 1970’s did the airlines start offering programs that treated pilots for alcoholism and let them keep their jobs.
I first became aware of the issue in 1975 when I visited a relative at an alcohol rehabilitation center, where I met an airline pilot undergoing treatment. He was a large jovial man who was likeable and easy to talk to. I still remember the details he told me of an emergency landing that he was once forced to make. I also met a member of Congress who was undergoing treatment there, all of which made a vivid impression on a young college student.
There’s no doubt that the airline pilot profession has become more difficult in recent years, but that’s not the sole reason some pilots try to fly drunk. Even during the airlines’ golden years when salaries were high and schedules were easier with more days off each month, some pilots flew drunk. Candidly, I think it has more to do with jet lag, boredom, the many days of travel away from home and the resulting strains in family relations. Even the Dean Martin Variety Show, which ran on television from 1965 to 1974, parodied drunken pilots as you can see from this video. Flying drunk is a problem that’s been with us for decades and it’s unlikely to disappear.
On a layover after completing my pattern at Frankfurt of B707 cargo to JFK and back in the early eighties, I was informally told by a fellow crew member of our DC 10 fleet who also happened to be there, that on their departure from JFK on the regular pasenger scheduled flight, all three of them in the cockpit were drunk, and he wondered how they flew the aircraft.
Another alcoholic history captain on probationary flying in a widebody passed out near the home base and luckily the First Officer flew the aircraft to a safe landing. This captain was retired after that.
Every airline has a long history of this endemic, and the long layovers at outstation are partly to blame in setting this habit.
Posted by: Syed Mohammad Husain | November 11, 2009 at 11:41 AM
Joe Balzer can relate to the recent news about 3 different pilots showing up to work while under the influence, because he already lived it - 20 years ago, when he was one of three Northwest pilots arrested, tried, and convicted for flying a commercial airliner while intoxicated. Today, Joe is a recovering alcoholic and pilot for American Airlines, and author of the new book Flying Drunk. His mission now is to educate people about the warning signs and dangers of alcoholism, and keeping airplane passengers safe. If you would like to learn more about Joe and his book Flying Drunk, please visit www.flyingdrunk.com or http://www.savasbeatie.com/books/FlyingDrunk_book.htm.
Posted by: Veronica | November 11, 2009 at 12:39 PM