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Drunk JetBlue FO removed from schedule BUF-FLL flight

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BUFFALO, N.Y. — Passengers aboard JetBlue flight 2465 did not take off as planned this morning from Buffalo. According to an NFTA spokesperson, a TSA worker noticed one of the pilots for the flight appeared to be impaired. NFTA police were called and officers entered the plane and took the male co-pilot off the plane. He was immediately given a breathalyzer and according to the NFTA, he registered a .17 BAC. Passengers tell 2 On Your Side the pilot was seen walking on the tarmac and placed in a… (www.wgrz.com) और अधिक...

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Bokhans
Hans Björkman 13
When I drove a garbage truck we had breathalyzer in every vehicle. But that’s different i guess. 😉
sgbelverta
sharon bias 13
A functioning alcoholic is real. However, you would think that annual flight exams would have caught the problem. Abnormal lab results, especially liver function tests, should have been a red flag. You can sober up to fly, but the long term damage to the body from excessive alcohol consumption can't be hidden forever.
tsilver473
Tony Silverstrå 4
Even some painkillers can make livertest rise
paultrubits
paul trubits -1
rdlink
rdlink 0
punkrawk78
Silent Bob 2
Well that would require there to be blood testing for an FAA physical, and there currently is not. There is a urine test, primarily for diabetes, pretty sure they don't even screen for elicit drugs specifically but don't quote me on that. I highly doubt it would detect alcohol related liver disease, but again I can't be certain.

The FAA does get access to your medical and driver records as part of the medical application, so if there's anything there that indicates an alcohol issue they can investigate further. But it obviously can't prevent someone slipping through the cracks.
EMK69
EMK69 12
Idiot what a waste of a career.
jmadunleavy
John D 8
Clearly an alcoholic. Addicts will sacrifice everything to feed their addiction.
pcope09
Paul Copeland 16
Not to minimize this colossal mistake, but I wish the FAA would loosen its rules around getting diagnosed and treated for mental health. There’s a lot of pilots out there self medicating with alcohol instead of getting proper treatment.
DonDengler
DonDengler 8
Yeah, sleep patterns are near impossible as a flight crew member. Jet Lag is real. Too many use alcohol as a sleep inducer. It has the opposite effect. Flying is the best career ever but it has its negative aspects as well. Nothing is perfect
Flightdog
Roger Curtiss 1
As should government for elected officials.
E1craZ4life
Edward Bardes 0
I fear there are pilots out there who don't trust doctors to maintain confidentiality.
mbrews
mbrews 5
Look at the livery for the A/C involved, N615JB March 2, 2022 at Buffalo. It is painted Fire Engine Red with " Fire Department City of New York " on the tail. (to honor New York's finest FDNY)

The co-pilot didn't honor himself or anyone by allegedly taking alcohol before flight.
tankdoc
gerald imbriale 5
Today I learned there is an acceptable blood alcohol level to pilot an airliner. I spent over 23 years in commercial nuclear operations and from 1986 on we had random drug and alcohol tests. The acceptable level for each was zero.
waypoint66
David Rice 1
.04 AND "eight hours bottle to throttle".
musocat
James Patterson 9
At .17 I'm surprised he made to the cockpit.
jmadunleavy
John D 6
Likely a functioning alcoholic. Functioning addicts defy physics and physiology.
mutrock
Mark Kortum 1
Wonder if he drove to work too?
abowland
Andy Bowland 3
B6 does not have a BUF base. Most likely he did not drive to work, but rather rode in the hotel van.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Could be another Charge Pending... I was in court for a traffic Ticket and a guy showed up drunk... the Judge asked him if he had been drinking and he said no... Judge had him take a breathalyzer test and he blew a .15. Just told him that he could not try him while under the influence and rescheduled for Monday. The judge told the bailiff "Bailiff, I want you to make sure that this gentlemen is Sober on Monday Morning" and a reply from the Bailiff - "Yes Sir, Your Honor" and escorted the guy out in Handcuffs... So that charge could come up or be pending.
A6SEA
Bill Butler 1
How much alcohol, in what time period, does it take to blow a .17?
AZAFVET
Wayne Fox 4
There really is no excuse for an impaired pilot. Whether Captain or FO, the lives of many people are in their hands. Even with all of the fly by wire automation incidents occur occasionally that require quick and correct analysis and action. That is something that being impaired would prove to be detrimental to problem solving. Kudos to the TSA agent that caught this before departure.
TorstenHoff
Torsten Hoff 11
"Bob, that's an interesting cologne you're wearing today. Johnny Walker?"
linbb
linbb 3
What in the hell went on should never have gotten to the AC at all.
Highflyer1950
Highflyer1950 5
At that age I’m thinking more of a permanent F/O. Previous employment records may show a pattern? It’s unknown, at least by me what procedures were followed by the TSA, but it’s possible the Captain was made aware and then took immediate action. I’d say the system worked like it was supposed to. Now, if we could only figure out a way to keep drunk passengers from getting airborne, flying might become fun again?
RainbowRiver
Phil Nolden 2
Fatigue can be just as bad as alcohol. A lot of trip pairings can be legal on paper, but a real bitch to fly - especially the back of the clock stuff. Depart at 2200L, arrive at a black-list city at 0000, hang around in the middle of the night; then depart at 0500 and arrive at 0700. Three in a row; then three off. Five times a month.
patpylot
patrick baker 4
this is going to screw up his next few decades, unless he has a backup career warmed up ready to plug in. Maybe the captain could not tell the impaired condition if it was similar to his everyday condition. Go easy on the captain. Nobody wants a drunk sitting up front next to him, undependable and unreliable...
TorstenHoff
Torsten Hoff 4
You would think there will be consequences for the Captain as well for not reporting the First Officer.
Cleffer
Cleffer 8
This article is confusing. It states both of these things:

"Flight 2465 from Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale, FL was delayed on Wednesday morning after the pilot noticed his co-pilot was impaired and had a smell of alcohol."

"According to an NFTA spokesperson, a TSA worker noticed one of the pilots for the flight appeared to be impaired."

So which is it? Did BOTH report?
williambaker08
william baker 4
The report I heard it was the Captain that notified TSA who then notified the Nfta who then turned him over to Jetblue Security.
RainbowRiver
Phil Nolden 1
In the good old days we had crew vans at the layover hotels. Now you catch an Uber. The CA and FO may not have left the hotel together. They might not have even stayed at the same hotel.
dgh1
Douglas Hudson 1
For what it's worth, lookup WIDMARK formula or equation. It will yield a close (almost right on) approximation of the amount of alcohol required to reach a given blood alcohol level. I am retired law enforcement and early in my career, while working traffic, I took several classes relating to impared driving. Several thinks I learned come to mind: even in a conditioned alcoholic, situational awareness, perception of unusual and/or dangerous conditions, reduced reaction time, and reduced visual acuity and field of view. A long term, conditioned alcoholic is effected by all of these, he has just learned to mask it. He is OK when all goes according to plan but when an unanticipated event occurs...
I did a lot of flying for my department but haven't flown for years. Sure miss it.
CharlesMattina
Charles Mattina 1
Chronic alcohol abuse can elevate your liver chemistries, and can cause abnormalities in red blood cell measurements that are routinely measured in red blood cell counts (CBC); this was common screen used by many including insurance companies as numbers are abnormal for a long time after last drink.
WM4DE
WM4DE 1
There's no excuse for this behavior. That being said, if anyone could be in need of mental health assistance, issues like this can be averted.

This time, the system seems to have worked.
CharlesMattina
Charles Mattina 1
There are other parameters which are abnormal other than liver chemistries in chronic alcohol abuse, such as red blood cell indices, seen on a simple red blood cell count (CBC). These were frequent screens for life insurance physicals.
SkyAware123
SkyAware123 1
WTF are these pilots thinking. Fire them on the spot and prevent them to ever pilot a plane again.
ElliotCannon
Elliot Cannon 1
If he is indeed an alcoholic, he will likely go to re-hab. If it is then determined cured of this disease, he will then have a chance to get his job back.
wiregold
wiregold 1
I wonder how many times this guy was hammered in the seat before this. Just walking at 0.17 takes practice. I've known several functional alcoholics and I'm guessing this guy had his last sip hours before blowing 0.17.
TorstenHoff
Torsten Hoff 1
How many people know that under the Infrastructure Bill signed by President Biden, all new cars will be required to be equipped with a breathalyzer ignition interlock starting in 2026?

https://time.com/6086981/bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-breathalyzers/

I wonder if that will ever come to commercial aircraft...
waypoint66
David Rice 2
Yes, many of us are aware that the BIPARTISAN Infrastructure Bill mandates this, and the sitting President is the one who signs bills into law. Please take note that when you buy a new car in 2026, it will likely be able to drive you home, so pour yourself in the backseat and don't drive it manually when drunk.
SkyAware123
SkyAware123 1
This, but I doubt they will drive you home in rural areas. Our roads aren't real roads.
chop12345
chop12345 0
If Ted Kennedy was alive this would never have got out of committee and written into the Bill.
flybd5juan
Juan Jimenez 1
DonDengler
DonDengler 1
Poor dumb stupid pilot to think he’d get away with this. Or she. It will become political depending ……
Viperguy46
Jesse Carroll 0
Why not have both pilots welcome passengers onboard and let us decide what they smell like.
I don't consume alcoholic beverages but I did in my youth.
Tried to sneak by my flight instructor once and thats hard to do in a Cessna 182....he cancelled the flight and really I only had 2 beers all day!,,,
chop12345
chop12345 1
It is a possibility, a very slim chance, that the pilots are doing more in the cockpit, while passengers board, than telling each other jokes. Every pilot knows that time is for adding your hours and subtracting .0765 to see what your paycheck will be!
SkyAware123
SkyAware123 0
Can we get some breathalyzers in all cockpits.
alexa320
alex hidveghy 1
You mean like all cars?!…..you do know how this works, right? Or are you a Monday morning armchair quarterback?
Sigh.
PegLegJim
Jim Welch 1
I’m certainly NOT advocating for breathalyzers in every commercial cockpit, like the other commenter, but you have to admit, when you or I hop in our cars, we’re not responsible for 350 souls behind us.
punkrawk78
Silent Bob 2
Maybe not 350, but if it saves just one life it’s worth it right? At least that’s the mantra from one side of the political spectrum. Over 10,000 people a year die in alcohol related crashes involving a BAC of .08 or more. I don’t have any data on alcohol related airplane crashes, mostly because it’s so rare to practically nonexistent especially in commercial aviation.

While incidents like this are obviously unwelcome and unfortunate they are also extremely rare and pose little threat to aviation safety.
PegLegJim
Jim Welch 2
I lost my leg to a drunk driver, so I tend to cut someone who’s OUI with a little less slack. As far as one side or the other being politically biased about this, I haven’t seen this at all in this thread.
Let’s keep it about Aviation, and not make politics an issue here. 😎👍
alexa320
alex hidveghy 1
Well stated!
Last month in my city an impaired, reckless driver ran a stop sign at over 100mph and killer himself and 7 others going about their business, including children.
Yet, there are no breathalyzers in cars or any requirements for them before you drive. It’s far more common on the road but no one advocates for that.
I doubt very much it will happen in commercial cockpits since it is fairly rare in comparison.
jmtflyer
jack slide -6
How many pilots does it take to fly a plane- one and on fifth I am guessing.
DonDengler
DonDengler -4
Jack Schit
Your remark is very stupid.
jmtflyer
jack slide 4

[This comment has been downvoted. Show anyway.]

[This comment has been downvoted. Show anyway.]

sparkie624
sparkie624 -9
Simple... A Drunk Airline Pilot on the Job... Careless, and it is going to cost him dearly... He will probably lose his license permanently and probably criminal charges to boot... that is what I meant by careless! Having that much alcohol, you would have thought the FO would have noticed. But now it seems as though there is 2 different stories about this as well.
MikeMohle
Mike Mohle 12

[This comment has been downvoted. Show anyway.]

alexa320
alex hidveghy 4
Ahem, you speed to have a reading comprehension issue. The article is very clear. It was the FIRST OFFICER that was impaired and removed. For the second time. Please re-read the article. Twice.
Thank you……
alexa320
alex hidveghy 2
Huh? Did you actually read the report? It WAS the co-pilot or First Officer that was removed!! And yes, it WAS noticed. That’s what the whole article was about.
Are you drunk?!🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️

sparkie624
sparkie624 1
There were 2 articles... 1 Said the captain and the other said the FO, so I do not really know. News reports by today's media leaves a lot to be desired.
alexa320
alex hidveghy 1
Well, most people read this headline news, not others. This one was very clear. No confusion!
Of course, if you bring in other articles, it’s bound to get miss mashed…….

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