News & Politics - American West Pilots Sentenced

vc318 · 07-21-2005, 01:03 PM

Just found out that the 2 American West pilots charged for trying to fly an airplane drunk have been charged. One has been sentenced to 2 and a half years in state prison and the other 5 years. Here's the news article on it:

Courtesty of wsvn.com:

MIAMI (AP) -- A judge Thursday sentenced two fired America West pilots to prison for operating a jetliner when drunk.

Pilot Thomas Cloyd, 47, of Peoria, Ariz., was sentenced to five years in prison. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge David Young said he had no sympathy for him.

Co-pilot Christopher Hughes, 44, of Leander, Texas, was ordered to 2 1/2 years in prison, a year of community control and a year of probation. He was also sentenced to community service and fined $5,000.

Prosecutors had recommended four years in prison for Cloyd and three years for Hughes, sentences that defense attorneys said were too harsh because no one was injured before their July 2002 arrests as they readied to take off for Phoenix.

They were found guilty June 8 of operating an aircraft while drunk.

The pilots were drinking at a sports bar the night before their scheduled flight from Miami International Airport. They ended their revelry about six hours before their departure time, two hours less than federal flight rules require.

The flight was stopped by police before takeoff after screeners noted alcohol on their breaths.

Tested hours later, their blood-alcohol levels were above Florida's 0.08 percent legal limit for drunken driving, which includes aircraft, experts said at trial. The levels were probably much higher when they were in the cockpit, the experts said.

What a sad case. Really is.

mh67511 · 07-21-2005, 08:46 PM

Some more infor (http://www.courttv.com/trials/pilots...ncing_ctv.html)

Quote:

During the trial, jurors saw 49 pieces of evidence, including airport security camera footage, a $122 bar tab and surveillance clips from Mr. Moe's cantina in Coconut Grove, Fla.

Witnesses testified the defendants consumed about 28 pints of Sierra Nevada during a six-hour stay at Mr. Moe's cantina in Coconut Grove, Fla., before returning to the Mayfair Hotel at 5:30 a.m.

When the pilots arrived at the airport at 10 a.m. for work, screeners at a security checkpoint reported suspicions that both men were drunk. Screeners told jurors that Cloyd argued with workers and refused to throw away a cup of coffee he was carrying. Workers also testified that Hughes' luggage triggered alarms, prompting a subsequent search. During that search, they said, they could smell alcohol on his breath.

The pilots had almost reached the tarmac when the Transportation Security Administration stopped the flight to perform field sobriety tests, which both men failed. Cloyd and Hughes were taken to a police station, where they consented to a breathalyzer test at 1 p.m., yielding results of .091 and .084, respectively. Florida's legal limit is .08.

One prosecution expert suggested Cloyd's blood-alcohol level could have been as high as .15 and Hughes' as .137 when they first arrived at the airport.

The defense only called one witness to the stand, tug vehicle operator Franklin Tejada, who told jurors he was in "full control" of the vehicle that morning, not Cloyd and Hughes.

Defense attorneys did not dispute claims that their clients drank the night before, but doubted whether the impairment levels actually affected their ability to do their job.

Uh, yeah, I'd like to see THEM get onto a plane with two pilots who were legally intoxicated.

I'm glad they got these sentences, though it does kind of bug me though that people who are actually drunk, go drive, and kill someone often get lesser sentences. Doesn't really make sense to me.

Lain · 07-21-2005, 10:10 PM

Hey vc318, first time I see you posting here

Thank God they got sentenced. I'm going to Cali this Monday and if I end up with two intoxicated pilots...that's not a good sign.

By the way mh, you do bring up a good point of drunk drivers getting off in a light sentence if they kill someone, usually ending up with manslaughter. If they weren't drinking, that's a whole different story...somewhat. But if they were, hello, common sense.

Drunk driving and speeding, the two common factors of death in a car crash, unfortunately.


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