I do not normally write about these stories but this one hit kind of close to him since this is one of my “hometown” airports. Fortunately, things ended well for everyone (except the pilot).
Drunk JetBlue Pilot Removed from the Cockpit
This happened yesterday morning at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. The pilot, James Clifton (from Orlando) had been in the cockpit to fly JetBlue flight 2465 from Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale, FL. The flight was scheduled to take off at 6:15AM and ended up being delayed over 4 hours to eventually depart at 10:25AM.
The pilot blew a breathalyzer result of .17% blood-alcohol. This put him in the legally toxicated range and 4 times the legal limit for pilots. This was also a very early morning flight which raises some questions as well. Pilots are not allowed to drink alcohol within 8 hours of flying or “8 hours bottle to throttle”.
The NFTA (Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority) police removed the pilot out of the cockpit and was taken into custody before being released to JetBlue’s security. According to NFTA, he “may face federal charges.”
This is JetBlue’s statement:
“The safety of JetBlue’s customers and crewmembers is our first priority. We adhere to all DOT rules and requirements concerning alcohol at all times and have a very strict zero tolerance internal alcohol policy. We are aware of the incident that occurred this morning in Buffalo and are cooperating fully with law enforcement. We are also conducting our own internal investigation. The crewmember involved has been removed from his duties.”
How This Was Spotted?
I know that the TSA often gets a lot of flack on various things but kudos to the TSA agents working that particular shift yesterday morning. It was the TSA that noticed his possible impairment and notified the authorities. I, for one, am very thankful that they took this step. I am sure the passengers onboard were very thankful as well, in spite of departing 4 hours later than scheduled.
