Drunk JetBlue Pilot Pulled From Plane After 10 Beers

A pilot showed up to an early morning flight intoxicated and the flight was delayed for four hours. He had 10 beers the night before.

JetBlue pilot blows 0.17 for early morning flight

The incident happened on March 2, 2022, when the captain of the flight from Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale was involved. The pilot was pulled from the cockpit before the flight left, on a flight with 133 passengers.

According to the police report, here is what happened.

• The pilot had missed the shuttle to the airport with the crew, and had to take a separate Uber; the crew also couldn’t get in touch with him
• The pilot needed to have a firearm checked at the security checkpoint, and that requires calling over law enforcement; the TSA and law enforcement went through that process, but agreed something seemed “off” about the pilot
• At that point law enforcement went to the plane and asked the pilot to step off the plane; this was after most passengers had already boarded
• The pilot was asked if he had any drinks that morning, and responded he didn’t; when he was asked if he had drinks the night before, he said he had five to six beers at dinner
• The pilot then failed basic field sobriety tests, and was asked to blow into a breathalyzer
• He blew a 0.174; for context, the legal limit for pilots is 0.04 (half the legal limit of operating a car), and pilots aren’t supposed to drink within eight hours of flying

The flight was delayed for four hours after the airline found a replacement captain. The flight was supposed to leave at 6:15AM, but ended up leaving at 10:25AM.

The pilot was taken into custody after the incident but not charged, and he could be looking at some serious time in prison. The pilot has already been fired.

How did the pilot get so intoxicated?

The pilots arrived in Buffalo at 6AM on Tuesday after working a redeye from Los Angeles. The other pilot in the cockpit said he met the captain at Sidelines Bar at around 5PM the night before. The two played darts.

The first officer left at 9:30PM, while the captain stayed at the bar.

The pilot was overheard telling someone on the phone that he had around 10 22-ounce beers the night before and had 220 ounces of beer. He says he left the bar at 12AM.

Bottom line

The pilot for the early morning flight from Buffalo was acting suspiciously at the airport. The pilot was found to be more than four times over the legal alcohol limit after a breathalyzer was performed. He admitted to having 10 beers the night before.

It's sad to endanger other people like this, so I hope this pilot gets the help he needs. I suppose it's possible that this was an isolated incident, but one has to wonder how often he has tried to fly over the legal limit.