Hardcore alcoholics also generally don’t present with your typical drunken behavior. The few I knew would be totally normal at what would be visibly drunk for non alcoholics.

Not claiming to know any specifics but flying under the influence is so wholly devastating to an airline pilot’s career that when this does happen I tend to assume we’re not dealing with someone for whom it was a simple matter of knowing when to have that last drink. More like knowing how.

For most of us, saying something like “I just don’t drink at all on short overnights” is a pretty simple & straightforward decision. But alcoholism is a real disease that involves- among other things- a lot of self-deception. That doesn’t forgive or justify putting people’s lives in danger; but judging an alcoholic’s decisions from the lens of someone who can have a drink now & then and not even think about it the rest of the time is kind of pointless.

They’re also very good at hiding it. Every time this happens people say “why didn’t the crew speak up”; like you said, this is generally someone with a problem and generally people with a problem are good at hiding it and physiologically adapted to it.

Yes, there's that too. They may not even feel drunk when their BAC is well above the limits. But they still have other symptoms like odor, bloodshot eyes, etc. That's why the security people catch them. They know what to look for. If you have any LEO buddies, ask them all about this.

That's pretty moot/mute/moo when the FAA automatically revokes their certificates anyhow. But Europeans will be Europeans. I assume they will ban them from entry, like Canada does with DUIs, which accomplishes the same thing.

Visine, Listerine, and general avoidance. Maybe I’m just an antisocial jerk but it isn’t unusual for me to make it to security with anything more than “morning” and “gas looks good” without getting closer than 5 feet from someone.

And yet drunk pilots keep getting caught. It's such a paradox. :rolleyes:

Most of these guys got away with with it that way for years until they finally got caught.

I mean you can’t fool a random.

I just hate that some people place some expectation on the rest of the crew to catch it. If I notice I’ll try to help but I’m not going to field sobriety test the rest of the crew in the van.

who cares, this boomer was only like 2 years from retirement. didn't gaf anymore. Most likely will just retire early and keep all his benefits.

maybe mood - it still a sovereign country with their own decisions.

and the FAA lost their reputation as a trustworthy gold standard with the MAX debacle