Originally Posted by
LeGreaseMan
Or your dad should have had a job in some other industry other than transportation if his disease was so challenging. It sounds from the few sentences you wrote that he was able to control his disease and do his job where others have not.
People make mistakes, we are human. I am of the belief that if you do mess up and show up to the plane drunk you should go to jail and loose you job. It doesn't matter if you are suffering from a disease or plain stupidity, You only get one chance IMO.
My college roommate died last week in a car accident. He was driving down the wrong side of the highway in the early hours of the morning. I have felt both sorrow and anger, because he hit anther vehicle head on and killed four innocent people.
I want to invite you, and the others to educate yourself on the HIMS program. I was going to refrain from commenting on this thread but after your post I felt I needed to. My husband got a DUI after his 33rd birthday after a night out with friends (away from duty). As a result his medical was pulled by the FAA (and before you ask it was his first DUI, that's how the FAA works now so I suggest calling a cab if you like your job) anyway after being lost with no help from our company he was referred to the HIMS program, got into treatment, worked extremely hard to earn his medical back and has been sober 517 days and as a new found respect for his family, friends, life, and job. Is addiction a disease? Absolutely. But it can be controlled and you can live a happy healthy life. Some people lose the battle on occasion (Josh Hamilton comes to mind). I'm a FO on the Shuttle certificate and I don't know any more than the rest of you about this particular incident. What I do know is that it hasn't been established if he did in fact show up to work intoxicated, if he was rude to a van driver, if he has a problem with alcohol, or who was on the van with him if anyone at all. Maybe we should all reserve judgement? Wouldn't you appreciate the same?