American Airlines’ pilot arrested after being found drunk 20 minutes before takeoff

A pilot of the American Airlines failed a breathanalyzer test at Heathrow Airport in London and was arrested 20 minutes before the plane was due to
take off.  American Airlines, based in Fort Worth, Texas, the United States, and a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation, said in a statement that the pilot was given the test after airport security staff alerted the police.

The pilot, aged 57, whose name the airline declined to reveal, was supposed to operate a flight with 204 passengers from London’s Airport to Chicago in
Illinois, the United States.

The British media quoted a spokesman for London’s Metropolitan Police as saying that the pilot was arrested 20 minutes before the plane was due to
take off.

The London office of American Airlines said in the statement that the flight in question was delayed while a replacement was found and the plane later
took off.

“The company has strict policies on alcohol and substance abuse and holds its employees to the highest standards,” American Airlines said, adding that
“employees at all levels of the company are not allowed to be on duty while under the influence of drugs or alcohol and regular screening is carried out.”

The American Airlines’ pilots union said that the arrested pilot took a blood test, but the results of that were not yet available.

The website chicagotribune.com quoted Scott Shankland, a spokesman for American Airlines’ pilots union, as saying that “alcohol testing is a part of the United States Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) random drug-testing programme, and can take place prior to or after any flight assignment.

“However,” he added, “the testing is random and rare, and definitely not routine.”

According to data available with the US government, since 1999, 22 pilots in the United States have appealed to the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) after the Federal Aviation Administration took action against them for consuming alcohol. And, all the appeals were rejected.

Of the 22 pilots who were suspended, 17 were commercial pilots and the rest 5 were private pilots, the NTSB said.