FAA Investigation Underway, Still no Criminal Charges

As the criminal investigation continues into Wednesday's incident at the Sioux Falls Regional Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration is conducting their own investigation, which could result in the pilot losing his license to fly.

Wednesday morning, the Captain of a SkyWest Airlines flight from Sioux Falls to Salt Lake City, Utah, was going through security, when a screener smelled alcohol on the pilot's breath. That screener alerted a Sioux Falls Police Officer stationed at the airport. The officer made contact with the pilot, who had boarded the plane and was in the cockpit area. Police determined he did in fact smell like alcohol, and gave him a breathalyzer test. The results of that test were not released by authorities. The pilot's blood is being tested for alcohol content, but the results are still pending according to police. The pilot's name isn't being released, because he hasn't been charged, and was not arrested.

The FAA is also stepping in, conducting their own independent investigation into the incident. Liz Cory, a spokeswoman for the FAA, says the agency could envoke a list of penalties after their investigation is complete. The most serious of which would be taking away the pilot's license. FAA regulations limit a pilot's blood alcohol level to .04, but police aren't saying what this pilot's blood alcohol level was when he boarded the plane.

SkyWest Airlines is also doing their own investigation into the pilot's actions. A spokeswoman for the company said Wednesday that the Captain has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of their investigation.

Stay with KSFY News and KSFY.com for the latest on this developing story.

By: Chris Studer

You work so hard and pay so much for training to get to fly an airliner, and you drink some alcohol before a flight, KNOWING that you will get in lots of trouble if you're caught. I don't understand that. So many of us aspire to be in thier position and these dumba$$es do something stupid like this.

Thats exactly what I was thinking! Its not easy to become an airline pilot. You work your a$$ off, pay tons of money for training and ratings, and go through all the scrutiny of your employment tests.

The media makes me so mad! He hasn't been charged, he hasn't been arrested, why is this in the news? If he really was drinking and had too much alcohol in his system, then tell the whole freaking story. The media LOVES to put out stories like these. The public gets so freaked out and scared that they become afraid to fly, and the whole industry gets this bad reputation. If he was drinking, how did he think he'd get away with it? Everyone is watching him, and if close enough, they're gonna smell him, too. How on earth can pilots who have been drinking think no one will notice?

get rid of autopilot and this would stop happening

This isn't the first, and it won't be the last.

Fact is that if he is found guilty, he has a long road of ahead of him. Probably one that he has been thinking about for some time. Many of these people that do this need help. They cannot control their drinking and do not know what they consume. Many airlines have in place a great program called HIMS for this. If he needs help he will get it. The only problem is that he works for SKW, and this program is between ALPA carriers, the FAA and their company. With out a union there is no net to fall in to for things like this.

I wonder if anyone has correlated the occurrences of pilots caught for showing up drunk with the general decline in the state of the industry vis a vis pay and working conditions?

(Wow, I used vis a vis in a sentence. I wonder if I used it correctly?)

(Wow, I used vis a vis in a sentence. I wonder if I used it correctly?)

Congrats, Mike! You DID use it correctly...

Most likely he was just young and invincible.

BTW, nice asinine pro-union comment there...If he DID have a substance problem, SKW actually has a very sincere program for that, but like ANY intervention program at ANY airline you have to get involved with it BEFORE you are dragged out of an airliner cockpit in handcuffs. ANY airline in the world would fire his @ss immediately, and would laugh in ALPAs face if they even suggested any sort of disciplinary review or recourse. Word is he blew a .07-.08...are you really going to tell me that the union would have gotten him out of jail and back on the job???

Gotten out of Jail no, gotten his tickets back no. That is all his doing. In fact he would be fired. Look at the programs and DAL and AA. There are many people that did just what he is accused of doing. They did go to jail, loose the tickets and the job. But with the programs that are set up, some not all but some of them were allowed back in the flight deck after going through all of the financial and emotional duress working their company's HIMS programs. I know a few people that are examples of how bad things happen to good people.Given the right attitude and the willingness to admit a mistake, these people were given the second chance. I also know some that have been let go because there was not a program in place. Many times because there was no union to push for it.