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.

FMI: www.lba.de