Runs To Bathroom After Passengers Accuse Him Of Drinking

No one knows for certain whether the Southwest Airlines pilot accused of being drunk by passengers at Port Columbus International Airport (CMH) this week was actually too intoxicated to fly, except for the pilot himself... but it sure doesn't look good, and the airline has put the man in question on paid leave while the FAA looks into the matter.

WBNS-10 in Columbus, OH reports two passengers noticed the pilot appeared intoxicated as he went through a security checkpoint Tuesday afternoon.

"As we went through security, we told the TSA guy, 'Hey, that pilot smells like he's reeking of alcohol. He ought to be checked out,'" said Andy Maisner, who along with business colleague Chan Mahon was traveling to Los Angeles.

The two men then followed the pilot down the concourse. As the pilot approached the gate where their flight was scheduled to depart from, Mahon approached the pilot, alarmed.

"So we went up, and Chan said to the pilot, 'Hey, you just reek of alcohol, and if you've got a drinking problem, you shouldn't be flying this plane,'" Maisner said.

What the men say happened next certainly raises eyebrows. "The guy just took off running. He didn't say, 'I haven't been drinking.' He just turned beet red and took off," Maisner said.

CMH officials later found the man in a restroom stall. The pilot had removed his uniform jacket and hat, and told police he called had in sick for his scheduled flight to Orlando.

The pilot denied he had been drinking, but added he "partied hard (the night before) at the hotel," according to the CMH report. Southwest says the pilot was given a blood test to determine intoxication, though the results weren't yet available.

As most pilots are aware, FAA regulations for the level of legal intoxication are stricter than most state laws, with anyone showing a blood-alcohol content of 0.04 or higher considered drunk. Pilots are also prohibited from drinking any alcohol within eight hours of taking the controls of an airplane.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.southwest.com