Thu, Sep 03, 2009
He Said He Had A Party To Go To, But Apparently Started
Early
We're not sure how this story doesn't end in tragedy, but
somehow, it doesn't. A 65-year-old German pilot suddenly finds
himself without a pilots license OR a drivers license after
becoming so drunk in flight he could not find his way back to the
airport.
The pilot, who has not been named, apparently had a few drinks
before getting in his Cessna and going flying Saturday afternoon at
Schoengleida airfield, and served himself a few more during the
flight. The UK paper The Telegraph reports that after two hours in
flight, he was unable to read the instrument panel or find his way
back to the airport. He apparently knew he was still in the
neighborhood, though. His conversation with the control tower
included a couple of songs and a mother-in-law joke. "Come on, I
know you're down there," he radioed. "Where the bloody hell have
you hidden yourself?"
After admonishing controllers to "pull their fingers out as I've
got a party to go to," a rescue helicopter based a Schoengleida was
dispatched to find him. It did, led him back to the airport, and he
somehow managed to land the airplane without incident. The
helicopter pilot reported a strong smell of alcohol coming from the
pilot, who tottered to his car and drove away.
He was stopped on the way home by police, given a breathalizer
test, and found to be nearly 4 times over the legal limit for
driving ... let alone flying an airplane. As you might expect, he's
now lost both his drivers license, AND his pilots license.
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