Am I Out Of Line Here?
This is my first post on this site and I am not a pilot. I have an issue that I seek advice on pertaining to a friend of 40+ years that is a pilot for a major US carrier. He has been both an FO and Captain for this major US carrier. He currently is an FO having been relegated recently to this role (? I’m unsure how this works within your industry) to a much larger aircraft for overseas service.
In spite of the fact that this guy has been a scammer and schemer his whole life I now find reason to question his professionalism based upon his behavior. I do understand that pilots are a microcosm of society and if the behavior I am about to describe is not considered out of line for pilots or most professions that people entrust their lives to then I am willing to drop it cold.
As I mentioned he has been scamming the system his whole life. His latest is to acquire a handicapped license plate to enable him to park conveniently at airports. Previously he used fraudulently acquired mirror tags to afford him this courtesy.
He incurred quite a few bodily injuries during his high school sports career that he has been taking advantage of in his professional life. He once boasted to me that he injured himself helping a flight attendant place a bag in the overhead. He related that he needed shoulder surgery and used this to get the insurance to pay for it. He turned this into 6-months off (whatever that means, he said that he did not have to fly for 6-mos. and still got paid). He boasted to us that he used this time to establish a business outside flying and that he still played golf and went white river rafting in the Grand Canyon. Seems to me if you can do that you can fly, but again, I’m not a pilot.
Recently his behavior has become very violent. He has been married 3-times and two of them have involved him getting physically violent with the wife as well as destruction of their physical property. I and mutual friends have had to intervene multiple times with respect to the physical abuse incidents to ensure the wife’s health and the integrity of the household items.
What caused me to post this is within the last 2-years he has verbally threatened to “cut your heart out” and to “put a bullet in your head” to a mutual friend. He certainly has access to firearms to accomplish this task. Granted he was in an alcohol induced state at the time but is this normal? During the “I’ll put a bullet in your head” incident he physically attacked this mutual friend of over 40-years striking him in the face and causing major damage without even allowing the “friend” to defend himself. He is a tremendous bully to his family as well.
He has several friends that are doctors and I have witnessed boxes and boxes of “sample” drugs that he gets from them to “keep it off his record” as he says. He claims that they are for persistent pain/ailments that he suffers from. I’m not a pharmacist or doctor so I don’t have a clue as to what they are. If they are innocuous, why get them serrupticiously? He constantly complains about being underpaid which I wholeheartedly agree with. I have a great respect for your profession and your professionalism.
I know this guy is a danger to his social circle from the events I described and others that will remain unpublished. The question is, is this man a danger to his passengers or your profession? I have no clue. I’m looking for advice here. If you say “he’s just a Joe trying to make a living” so be it. If, on the other hand, you believe this man endangers or is a threat to anyone, please advise me on what to do. Again, I’ve no clue. I’m really getting tired of his antics and braggadocio on how he scams his airline, his friends and his family. The only thing that antagonizes me more is the thought of reading an FAA incident report citing any of the things above as cause. Though I’m no pilot I fly platinum level miles each year. I am unaware if I’ve ever been on one of his flights but it does concern me.
If I’m out of line, I can take it. Please advise. Also, if I am posting on an inappropriate forum please advise.
reddeacon