UnitedExpress pilot indicted for flying drunk
 

DENVER — A pilot for United Express is being accused of flying while drunk on a December 2009 flight from Austin to Denver.
A federal grand jury in Denver indicted 32-year-old Aaron Jason Cope of Norfolk, Va. late Wednesday. He's charged with unlawfully operating and directing the operation of a common carrier while under the influence of alcohol.
The indictment says the incident occurred on a Dec. 8, 2009 United Express flight. Cope was second-in-command, serving as the co-pilot.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, Jeff Dorschner, wouldn't elaborate on if or how much time Cope spent at the controls. A message left for Cope wasn't immediately returned. Federal agents were trying to find him.
He faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

SkyWest or Shuttle?

Edit: Looks like Shuttle. http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wa...f.flying.drunk

How dispicable:eek:!

The story makes it sound like his CA turned him in. Interesting...

The media really loves stories like this. Yes, it is a serious issue - but what about all of the other serious issues facing our industry?

What's even more interesting is why it supposedly happened almost a year and a half ago but he's just now being arrested. Was he presumably fired a long time ago but they're just getting around to charges? Because I feel like those America West guys in Miami a few years back were arrested right away.

NOT GUILTY...what did he direct?

Anyway...bad news once again...funny it tool a year and a half to make the news.

It was Shuttle BTW

I'm glad its United's name all over this news and not Shuttle America. You contract with a regional, you're responsible for their actions. Hate it when any bad news just gets buried under the regional's name.

How is this in anyway shape or form United's fault?

Its not directly, its more indirectly. United should be held responsible for their contractors.

I think those guys that were arrested right away were caught by authorities while they were still drunk. If he was turned in after the fact then there's a lot more investigative work to prove it, plus an indictment takes time.

Well that sucks, but easily prevented by not flying drunk.

Innocent people paid United a lot of money to be flown from one place to another with their United ticket. United has the responsibility for getting them there safely, and even if something like this happens where it is questionable as to who's fault it is... United needs to be the one that takes the heat.

For the same reason that Ford takes the hit when they do a recall because Acme Fastener Company makes faulty lug nuts.

If a company sub contracts, it is the company, not the sub contractor, who gets sued. (After the fact, the company CAN sue the sub contractor, but the consumer is not responsible for finding the third party)

Regionals doing most of the flying for the brand they contract for is not only about the lower labor cost, its also about the mainline carrier seperating themselves from the liablility of of the added risk of doing things so cheap.

Mainlines have generally gotten away with this but the Colgan Buffalo crash and its investigation have revealed the ugly truth to the public and the government officials who represent the public.

One thing to remember though is that this drunk pilot thing has actually happened more at the mainline pilot level oddly enough. Maybe because alcoholism is such progressive disease and often doesn't reach severe levels until later in life. I dunno. But I sense the media along with the general public isn't so interested in seperating out only who the sub-contracted company is anymore.

I would hope that since mainlines are being held more accountable for who they contract and since we've already seen regulation changes on their marketing and ticketing that life would get better for pilots at the regional level but that's only wishful thinking. I haven't seen any changes for the better at most regional carriers.

If you're a regional pilot, you don't want, or need another layer of bureaucracy in your life. It would be a mess.

Aside from getting your priorities in order, consider a $50 breathalyzer.

Regional pilots can usually only afford afternoon happy hour... and are sober by the morning. :D

Can't be proven without a drug screen/blood test immediately after landing. If they had that this should have been dealt with soon after. Bet there is a lot more to the story... thank you media.

It doesn't happen more often at the mainline level. It just makes the news more often. A drunk 777 captain in some far off city is a more exciting headline as opposed to a drunk regional punk in Des Moines.

Maybe if United was held liable for all issues at Express it wouldn't be outsourcing so much of the flying.

+1 ;) and wishful thinking from my end. Every corporate goon on the farm finds ways around this.

Those $50 breathalysers are horribly inaccurate, not that you should ever be cutting things so close that you need to check your BAC anyway. You have to spend a lot more to get the kind with a respectable sensor technology inside.

How about having a beer with dinner on your layover rather than 6 beers

:rolleyes:

Yeah, those darn regional punks. You're right though, it's not clearly exciting as a couple of pilots falling asleep while flying from San Diego to Minny, or as exciting as landing on a taxiway, or as exciting as the CA still using the tiller while on the runway, battling his FO and veering their plane off the runway in Denver...

I think the PERSON should be taking the heat.
I'm sure that both the contractor, and the parent company, both did everything they could do to put policies into place, showed them all the right films, provided all the different courses and counselors to people if they had problems, etc....... AND STILL a certain person decided to break all of the regs/guidelines/procedures/ and laws to fly drunk (if this is actually the case)
How about we blame this person's parents too while we're at it for not raising him properly? :rolleyes:

Personal responsibility is dead.

FlyJSH - you are correct, yet I thought a reason the lawyers usually went after the contracting company was because they generally went after whoever had the deepest pockets - and that is usually the parent company.

USMCFLYR

USMC is spot on. Let each person take responsibility for their idiotic actions. First...The media loves to sensationalize these stories. I highly doubt he was truly DRUNK. Pilots who have been "drunk" in the past have had a BAC of like .02-.04 (typically, not all). Thats hardly DRUNK in the Animal House sense of the word. Second....as I was saying, USMC is spot on. Us regional guys and the mainline guys don't want mainline having to bear the liability for this. Theyll reduce or eliminate their liability in anyway possible if theyre forced to be responsible for this. Do you really want to take a brethalyzer everytime you walk down the jetway?

If this stuff keeps up, airlines' are just going to ban us from drinking, as a condition of employment.

On March 8, 1990, a Northwest flight flew from Fargo, North Dakota, to Minneapolis with the entire cockpit crew legally drunk. All three pilots were subsequently fired and had their licenses revoked by the FAA

FlyingDrunk.com

A good read about loosing it all and somehow getting it all back. I was in a crashpad with Joe, a real great guy and a hell of a drummer.

6 beers IS dinner...duh!!

Joe still keep in touch with the rest of the crew? I heard the FO is a captain at Polar.

I am all for personal responsibility. However, having United's name in the headline is completely appropriate.

Yeah, they need to be held publicly accountable for the failings of their subcontractors since, IMO, UAL and other majors intentionally try to lead their customers to the conclusion that they are flying on a mainline airplane.

Although in the cases of drunk on duty, I don't think regional pilots are necessarily worse than mainline pilots.

Why does the regional pilot have to be a punk? Why go there...?

You're right, united should be the party responsible!!!:rolleyes: never the person that was actually(accused)flying drunk!!! it's easier to point the finger than to take responsibility for your own actions!

I should tell my neighbor to tell the bank that its his employer's responsibility to pay his $800k mortgage because he only makes $15/hr.

The Capt got rehired at NWA and retired as a Captain on the 747 I believe

EDIT: found article

Lyle Prouse

The Avweb piece is a good read, Thanks for posting. A lot of us have been given a second chance, and are usually better people as a result. "If you ever need anything, call me" can
oftentimes come in quite handy.

AND, why wouldn't a captain turn him in if he did indeed was under the influence? And vice versa?

Nicely said!

Now just wait till Lyle Prouse shows up here and tries to 'rationalize' how this happens.

Lyle Prouse should never have been allowed to fly after that flight from FAR!

When he and his crew flew drunk from Fargo to MSP, it was a deliberate 'act'...the entire story 'he' has presented to the world doesn't tell the 'true' story.

But, most pilots on this board and 'pprune' seems to be impressed by his story simply because he was a 747 Captain for NWA.

On a different note: does it really matter if 'United' or 'Delta' or 'American' names are used...it's not that the 'major' airline pilots have 'never' been caught trying to fly drunk. You guys need to read more!

Better yet, why did the captain ever let the flight leave? Protect your crew from their own stupidity. Pull of a placard, ground the damn thing. I would think that if you took off knowing the other guy was intoxicated on an aircraft that requires two crew members makes you a party to the crime and at the end of the day can end up burning you as well. If the guy really wants to fly drunk, don't take off, don't push off. Get it taken care of.

Your ignorance is impressive.

Actually most of us are impressed by his determination and drive to get back on the horse after he made life changes and paid his debt to society.

He just as easily could have been released from prison, picked up the bottle again and gotten lost in oblivion...

But then again I suppose that you're a perfect pilot and never made any mistakes in your life.