Drunk American Airlines pilot blames “strong European beer”

by Scott Carmichael on

The career of distinguished Amercian Airlines pilot Joseph Crites came to a screeching halt last May, when he was removed from his plane at Heathrow airport, a mere 15 minutes before departure, when local police smelled alcohol on his breath.

Staff on his Chicago bound flight had alerted the police, and an initial breathalyzer test showed a 37mg/100ml reading – when the maximum reading for being allowed to fly a plane is 9mg/100ml.

On Friday, Mr. Crites was sentenced in a UK court, and was handed a £1,500 fine, plus £300 in court costs. The normal sentence is jail time, but Mr. Crites had a spotless record, and the court received glowing references from his colleagues.

During the trial, the pilot put the blame on the “unknown European beers” he had consumed, and claimed they must have been “stronger than he normally drinks”.

He had his last drink before arriving back at his hotel at 11:30pm the night before, and it takes quite a decent amount of booze to reach his blood alcohol levels.

It is very sad to see such an impressive career come to an end over a couple of beers, but someone with his experience should have known better.

More stories of booze gone bad in the skies

Airline fee backfires: skycaps win in Massachusetts court

by Tom Johansmeyer on

When American Airlines started to charge a $2 fee for curbside baggage check-in, the skycaps lost their tips. Passengers were accustomed to paying $2 or so, it seems, and weren’t going to amp up the cash flow just because the money was going into a different pocket. So, nine Logan Airport skycaps – current and former – just came into $325,000, thanks to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled based on a law intended to protect wages and tips.

American Airlines tried to get by on a technicality, saying eight of the nine skycaps were subcontractors (working for G2 Secure Staff) and thus weren’t protected. The court disagreed, favoring broader protection. But, it isn’t over yet. American Airlines, according to a report in USA Today, is evaluating “all of its legal options.”

Airlines post worst on-time performance of the year

by Tom Johansmeyer on

June was the worst month of the year for airline on-time performance since December, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Together, U.S. airlines had an on-time arrival rate of 76.1 percent, down from 80.5 percent in May. But, they had fewer delayed flights than in June 2008.

Hawaiian Airlines put up the best on-time results in June, with Delta subsidiary Comair at the other end of the spectrum. Continental had the fewest delays among the legacy carriers (those that had a large footprint before airline deregulation in 1978), and American Airlines was at the bottom of the barrel for this category.

Unsurprisingly, weather, equipment problems and airport congestion were cited as the most frequent reasons for flight delays. To count as a delay, a flight must be more than 15 minutes late – canceled and diverted flights also count. Through most of the year, flight delays fell largely because airlines were cutting routes and servicing fewer passengers.

Mishandled baggage fell, as well, year-over-year, though it was up from May to June. Reports were down 20 percent from June 2008 to June 2009. AirTran had the fewest gripes from passenger. American Eagle (a unit of American Airlines) had the most.

American Airlines flight attendant accused of racist remark

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Dudu Nobre, a Brazilian singer, has filed a lawsuit against American Airlines. He, his wife and producer are looking for $4 million in damages, claiming that flight attendants used racial slurs when talking to him and that they stabbed his producer with a sharp pen. So, the next time you’re wondering what could make the long flight from Sao Paulo to New York worse, in a world where amenities and seat space are declining seemingly daily, Nobre is equipped to let you know.

One flight attendant is said to have called Nobre a monkey repeatedly in Portuguese during the flight – pushing it further by making monkey-like sounds. Apparently, these sounds are the closest thing to comment, as American Airlines is remaining tight-lipped.

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Is airplane air toxic?

by Jamie Rhein on

There’s a recent CNN article about a flight attendant who became ill after working a flight back in 2007. Her illness is alarming.

First, she felt as though she were coming down with a cold; then her nasal discharge was a neon green — the color of antifreeze! Since then, she claims to have suffered chronic migraine headaches, tingling in her feet, loss of balance and vision problems.

These health problems did not happen without warning. Right before her ailments started, the attendant noticed a “misty haze type of smoke” in the cabin of the American Airlines MD-82 plane. The haze occurred right after the plane landed and was heading to the gate.

The flight attendant’s visit to a neurologist confirmed she had been exposed to toxins. Because her condition is so bad, and she blames the airplane’s design for the toxins, she’s suing Boeing, the maker of the vessel. According to the lawsuit, the “bleed air” had been contaminated.


Bleed air is recirculated cabin air that’s mixed with the air pulled into the engines during a flight. The air that goes through the engine is cooled and compressed before being used in the cabin. The danger of bleed air being contaminated is small, however: according to the CNN article that presents a detailed account of the attendant’s story, one study has found that airplanes can have a fume leak 0.05% of the time. What causes a fume leak is unclear, but one idea is a leaky seal.

Currently, there aren’t conclusions about what caused this particular attendant’s sickness. She had flown for 17 years without any problems. Her case is not the only one where an attendant has become sick allegedly because of airplane air. Some pilots have also reported becoming ill, as have passengers.

The article also points out that because people’s immune systems differ, not everyone will be affected by toxins in the same way; many people may not be affected at all. It is also good to know that there are more studies being conducted to find out more about toxins in airplanes and what should and can be done to minimize the threat. The idea of being afflicted with neon green nasal discharge is not appealing.