AirTran FFDO captain arrested after screener smells alcohol, fails breathalizer

An armed AirTran Airways captain and federal flight deck officer was arrested in the cockpit of his aircraft on Thursday at Las Vegas' McCarran International airport after a screener said the pilot smelled of alcohol as he passed a checkpoint.

Officers from the Las Vegas Police Department were called to the scene and arrested Paul Reason, Jr., 37 and an AirTrain pilot since 1994. Shortly thereafter, Reason was given a breathalyzer test, which he failed, according to a police report given to the airline.

The airline has issued a statement from its Orlando (FL) headquarters in which they state that safery procedures were followed to make sure the aircraft did not leave the gate with the intoxicated pilot at the controls.

"The captain neither took command of the aircraft nor was the aircraft operated in any manner," said the statement. The airline issued an apology to the passengers of the flight, which as subsequently cancelled. The pilot, who on Thursday was being held at the Clark County Jail, has been suspended by the TSA as an FFDO, and has also been suspended indefinitely from pilot duties by his employer pending the outcome of an investigation into the incident.

(On the last day of 2004, ANN ran an editorial with our assessment of the state of aero-security in the United States. In it, we mentioned that the FFDO program should continue to be carefully and slowly implemented, and then again only after stringent security and psychological screening of the candidates. Ed. JJ)

FMI: www.airtran.com, www.tsa.gov