Originally Posted by
anima
My son just started in a Flight Sciences degree at a US university. He has wanted to be an airline pilot since he was 4, it's all he has ever talked about.
2 weeks before he went off to go to college, he was arrested for DUI. His BAC was 0.054, legal still for an adult but not a minor (anything over 0.02), they also charged him with Minor in Possession.
We have a lawyer and it is working its way through the system, they recently suspended his auto licence for 30 days and he will have to have an interlock on his car for the next year. The DUI stuff is still pending. We intend to fight the DUI, the MIP he absolutely deserves.
So my question is.... what are his prospects now? Is this a career killer before he even graduates?
How will this affect his license? (not to mention his scholarship) if we can't clear the DUI. Could he get on with a major airline? Should we also get an aviation lawyer?
I really feel bad for him, we were all 18 once, back in my day the cops would have just poured the booze out and marched us home for my dad to deal with. I can't believe his dream could be over already.
Thanks,
Jeff
Yep...back in the day.
Those days have been over for quite some time too.
I was no angel in High School, but as soon as I realized that all that I wanted was a DUI/DWI away from being a dream I could never realize I took a different road with a different approach.
A little off the subject of how this will affect his future employment chances and how the FAA will deal administratively with this if in fact he did hold an FAA medical; but I'm curious why you are in your words 'we intend to fight the DUI'. It seems that he should admit his mistake and try to make amends with the court using the many tools previously suggested in this thread. Are you contending that he is actually innocent of the DUI or by 'fighting' are you saying that the family plans on asking for leniency?
I wish more young adults would heed the advice of the adults in their lives when they try to tell them that their actions even as teenagers can have long lasting effects on their lives; but each think they are bullet proof.