Posted on 03/03/2022 10:58:27 AM PST by nickcarraway
A JetBlue pilot is out of a job and in huge trouble after he was pulled from the cockpit for being drunk.
This all unfolded Wednesday morning at the Buffalo Airport, just before takeoff, with a plane full of passengers.
Pilot James Clifton, 52, was in the cockpit, getting ready to fly 133 passengers from Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale around 6:15 a.m. when NFTA officers pulled him from the plane.
TSA agents suspected something was off about Clifton when he was checking his gun through security just minutes earlier.
“There was some questions and some suspicion. That’s when we became involved — when the TSA officers called our officers and that’s when we got involved. We gave him a breathalyzer and we know how he did with that — he did not do well,” said Helen Tederous, director of public affairs, NFTA.
Clifton ended up blowing a .174%, more than four times the legal limit for pilots.
JetBlue ended up firing Clifton and has launched an investigation. So, has the FAA.
“He was taken into custody, but not charged,” Tederous added. “Right now, we are working with federal officials and he may face some serious charges.”
Aviation expert Bob Miller told News 4, “The pilot that was taken off JetBlue today, very likely is looking at several years of hard prison time.”
Preteen girls arrested, accused of torturing girl at sleepover An NFTA police report said Clifton had gone out the night before to Sidelines bar on Delaware Avenue. While in the police interview room, Clifton told someone over the phone that he drank ten 22-ounce beers, also known as “Tall Boys.”
Wednesday morning, he missed the shuttle to the airport and had to take an Uber.
“A wise move, simply, would be call in sick. I’m just not able to fly today. No reason. I’m just not feeling well. That’s the safe way to do it because the risks are profound,” Miller added.
Miller said pilots who have drinking problems can face huge obstacles when trying to get help.
“It’s a real bad situation for the pilot to report to his company that he has a drinking problem. The company will help. But very likely the company has the option to put him on the ground for one full year in most cases until they are assured the pilot has resolved the problem,” Miller told us.
As for the passengers on the plane, Clifton’s arrest delayed their trip by four hours. But their bizarre journey to the Sunshine State finally came to an end when the wheels touched down in Fort Lauderdale just after 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Is this a problem?
Apparently he was quite thirsty.
Dude’s been drinking at that level for awhile. That’s a healthy (not) alcohol resistance.
“TSA agents suspected something was off about Clifton when he was checking his gun through security just minutes earlier.
Clifton ended up blowing a .174%, more than four times the legal limit for pilots.”
Drunk pilot with a gun.
TSA agents finally find a threat to US air travel - and he’s from Buffalo.
“Preteen girls arrested, accused of torturing girl at sleepover”
???
Alcoholic can still walk and remember how much he drank 🤪
What happened to no smoking 24 hours before a flight or drinking within 50 feet of the plane?
“ten 22-ounce beers”
1. Wow, who knew that JetBlue was hiring pilots at frat parties?
2. Dude has an amazing bladder to handle all that. I’d be peeing on the hour all night if I drank half that.
If we’re talking about putting tests in cars, why not planes first?
Pilots have always been able to outdrink frat bros.
Depends how you're evaluating the results. Sounds like he got the high score.
I thought the same. Dude blew .17 after he slept a few hours. I don't know how drunk he was when he quit drinking, but wow.
Amazed he got any sleep, I’d be up draining the bladder all night long.
I’m sure that must have been a click and paste error from the article. Right?
He needed john goodmans character in that denzel movie to help fix him up before flying
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