Police on Wednesday arrested a former Alaska Airlines pilot David Hans Arnston, of Newport Beach, Calif., who is being accused of flying two planes in June 2014 under the influence of alcohol. His blood alcohol levels were recorded in random tests done after those flights.
Arnston was the pilot of two flights out of Portland on June 20, 2014. The first flight he flew was between San Diego and Portland, and the second flight he flew was between Portland and Orange County, Calif. After he landed his plane at the Orange County airport, Alaska Airlines randomly chose him for drug and alcohol tests. The results indicated that he had a blood alcohol level of between 0.134 percent and 0.142 percent, according to AZ Family.
The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has fixed the legally permitted alcohol level as 0.10 percent for pilots. Anything above that level would be illegal, and no pilot with such a high level of alcohol would be permitted to fly a plane. The FAA guidelines also insist that a pilot should not have consumed any alcohol for eight hours at a stretch before the pilot enters a flight cockpit, the New York Daily News reported.
Arnston was suspended from Alaska Airlines when the readings came out and is now retired. He was released on bail of $25,000 and will appear in the next proceeding in court on Feb. 10. If convicted, he could spend up to 15 years in prison.
"Unfortunately, about 10 percent of the population are alcoholics and airline pilots are not necessarily exempt from that. It is such a rare occurrence, that is why it is of interest here. ..You look at the safety record of airlines in the last 10 years. It is incredible," FAA investigator Tom Young said, according to Fox 21 News.
