According to accounts, a JetBlue pilot was hauled from the cockpit minutes before takeoff from an upstate New York airport on Wednesday after being discovered to have a blood alcohol level more than four times the legal limit for flying.
A Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority official said James Clifton, 52, underwent a Breathalyzer after authorities removed him from the Fort Lauderdale-bound jet out of Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
The Orlando, Fla., resident was apparently noticeably inebriated as he walked through security before boarding the plane, prompting TSA employees to call the cops, according to the story.
According to a partially redacted NFTA police report, the pilot, who was carrying a registered handgun through the gates, seemed strange to TSA officials.
Clifton initially denied drinking the morning of the flight, but later acknowledged to having as many as 7-8 drunks in a club the night before, according to the police report.
According to the police report, a coworker who had joined the pilot for dinner told detectives that Clifton didn’t answer his phone or show up when a shuttle arrived at their hotel to take them to the airport on Wednesday morning. According to the statement reported in the newspaper, he later took an Uber to the airport.
His blood alcohol level (BAC) was 0.17 percent, which is twice the 0.08 percent legal limit for driving and four times the 0.04 percent BAC limit for pilots set by FAA standards.
According to flight tracking website FlightAware.com, the flight, which was supposed to leave Buffalo at 6:15 a.m., was delayed four hours and ten minutes. At 1:10 p.m., it arrived in Florida. According to the website, the date is Wednesday.
According to the police report, he was not prosecuted with any local infractions, but the incident was referred to federal authorities. The pilot has been relieved of his duties, according to a JetBlue representative.
