[Doglips]

If you got to take a flight...dont read this..Yep the 3rd drunk piolt to make the news (That I have posted anyway)....




Sunday, July 28, 2002


WILMINGTON, N.C. — Federal aviation officials were investigating whether a pilot for a Delta regional carrier failed a breathalyzer test Sunday morning before boarding his flight to Atlanta.


The 28 passengers aboard Delta ASA Flight 4240 were removed at around 6:40 a.m., nearly a half-hour after its scheduled departure from the Wilmington International Airport, said Airport Director John Rosborough.

Rosborough couldn't confirm whether the co-pilot of the twin-engine plane failed the test. But Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Christopher White said his agency was investigating "the alleged violation of an alcohol-related regulation regarding ASA Flight 4240."

The pilot was not identified.

FAA guidelines say that no crew member can have more than a 0.04 blood alcohol level. Also, no crew member can drink any alcohol within eight hours of duty. The agency can revoke a pilot's license if they determine the alcohol regulations have been violated.

Rosborough said the crew member of Flight 4240 was stopped from boarding the plane at around 6 a.m. Sunday by a security officer with the Transportation and Security Agency. The agency holds random alcohol testing of crew members, but it was unclear whether that was the reason the pilot was stopped.

[Oxford]

Doglips: I just returned from a flight of over 15,000 miles with Northwest and their affiliate KLM. I've got to admit that I prayed that the pilot had all of his skills intact, especially when we took off and landed.

The flight over the Atlantic was on a Boeing 747. Now that's one large bird. My view out of the rightside porthole was right down over the flaps. There were plenty of mechanical actions which could have malfunctioned but the flight went without any incidents.

My respect goes to the mechanics who make those birds fly as well as they do.

Oxford