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Southwest Airlines pilot, David Allsop, was arrested at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) yesterday. He was scheduled to fly to Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) operating as flight WN3772, but a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent allegedly smelled alcohol on him and he was subsequently arrested by law enforcement on the aircraft.
NBC News is reporting that the 52-year-old has been a licensed pilot since 2008. He was released on a $3,500 bond according to the Chatham County sheriff’s records. The flight was delayed almost five hours due to the arrest as Southwest needed to get another pilot to the airport.
As one would expect, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) highly regulates alcohol consumption of pilots. They are prohibited from drinking alcohol while on duty, flying, or attempting to fly an aircraft within eight hours of consumption. This also applies if their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is 0.04% or greater. No word was released on Allsop’s BAC or what tests were administered to determine that he in fact had been drinking.
The image above, taken by a passenger named Paty Dermody, shows police on the aircraft.
Southwest released the following statement:
We’re aware of a situation involving an employee on Flight 3772 this morning from Savannah. The employee has been removed from duty. Customers were accommodated on other flights, and we apologize for the disruption to their travel plans. There’s nothing more important to Southwest than the safety of our employees and customers.”
Anthony’s Take: If this pilot was drinking than this is a serious situation and one that could have ended in tragedy. Airline crews know the rules and if he violated them than he really should not be flying in the future. Thankfully, this was handled before the aircraft took off.
(Image Credits: Chatham County and Paty Dermody.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
