This week on Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Fly sober or get pulled over
I love to fly and I am very thankful to our national air carrier for treating me so well over the years. I wouldn’t call myself a nervous flyer. I also really like these shows where investigators forensically analyze air crashes. So every time I fly and I hear the sober voice of the pilot coming on, I am reassured that I will safely reach my destination on a relaxing flight. But of course there are tens of thousands of airplanes flying every day and occasionally the voice of the pilot is not a sober voice.
This week on Weird and Wacky Wednesdays we’re going to look at two recent cases where, thankfully, authorities figured out the pilot wasn’t sober before the plane took off, and then a third where we get to see what happens when there is an impaired pilot on the flight deck mid-flight.
Grounded at the gate in Vancouver
Just before Christmas, a pilot was stopped and investigated only moments before he was scheduled to depart flying an Air India flight presumably to India. The news stories are somewhat vague about the circumstances, but the allegation is clear that it was an issue of a pilot having consumed alcohol before the flight.
If you’ve ever seen these aircraft taking off and landing at YVR, you probably know that they are usually Boeing 747s. This is a circumstance where the pilot is responsible for the lives of hundreds of people on the aircraft.
I posted a TikTok video about this when it made the news. It was not clear whether the police or aviation authorities used an approved screening device to test the pilot to determine whether or not they had alcohol in their body.
A discussion ensued in the comments led by my colleague, Paul Doroshenko, asking what the lawful authority would be to test the pilot if he had not made it to the seat of the aircraft. If he made it to the seat where the pilot normally sits, the Criminal Code would apply because seated in the normal seat to operate the aircraft would establish care and control of the aircraft which would be necessary to make an approved screening device demand. Approved screening device demands must be made on the basis of legislation that facilitates it. To make a Criminal Code demand, the peace officer (typically a police officer) would have to wait until the pilot sat in their seat behind the yoke. It’s an interesting legal question. Perhaps there’s some other legislation that permits an approved screening device demand of a pilot, but there is nothing I can find with my cursory search.
When the flight deck smells of liquor
About a year ago, a Southwest Airlines pilot was arrested when he was found seated on the flight deck conducting pre-flight tests. The other crew member noted a strong odour of alcohol, and authorities were called in. In this case, the pilot did face some sort of sobriety test and apparently was arrested on the basis of the test.
It’s frightening that a pilot can get all the way to the point of being seated and doing pre-flight preparation before someone scrutinizes their sobriety. You would think that there would be some moment set aside prior to stepping on board the flight where someone (another pilot or the lead flight attendant) would take a moment to assess the sobriety of the pilot.
If you deal with enough drunks, you might be able to detect it in their speech alone. You wouldn’t want the passengers having to be the ones detecting it on the basis of the announcements.
Apparently this pilot’s license was revoked by the FAA.
Pilot on mushrooms comes back down to earth
Back in 2023, a former Alaska Airlines pilot was on the flight deck of a Horizon Air flight from Everett, Washington to San Francisco. He was riding in the extra seat on the flight deck. Apparently he had taken some psychedelic mushrooms a couple days earlier and hadn’t slept in over 40 hours, suffering a mental health crisis as a result of a recent friend’s death. He thinks he may have been dreaming at the time and was trying to wake himself up from his dream by grabbing two red handles that would have activated the plane’s fuel suppression system and cut off fuel to the engines. He was subdued by the flight crew, and the aircraft was diverted to Portland.
It was clear that this was a mental health crisis, and this fellow was terribly remorseful for his actions. It destroyed his career. The sentence seemed over-the-top in my view, including 664 hours of community service, 8 hours for each person on the aircraft, but from society and the courts’ perspective, the risks are high if a pilot is not sober on the flight deck.
Sober on deck
Whether you’re on the road or in the air, make sure you’re sober before you make steps to get behind the wheel or yoke.
Tune in next week for some more exciting, Weird and Wacky Wednesday legal stories.
