Allegedly Was Carrying A Bottle Of Alcohol On The Plane

A Delta Airlines Pilot was removed from a fully-boarded plane in Minneapolis Tuesday and arrested for allegedly preparing to operate the aircraft under the influence of alcohol.

The New York Post reports that the pilot, identified as 37-year-old Gabriel Lyle Schroeder, was taken off the plane at about 11:00 a.m. Tuesday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. He allegedly smelled strongly of alcohol and had a bottle in his possession at the time of his arrest.

Airport spokesman Patrick Hogan told CNN that Schroeder had left a TSA pre-screening line for crewmembers when he noticed that agents were conducting additional screening. He returned to the line, but his suspicious activity caused airport officials to report him to Minneapolis Airport Police, who conducted two sobriety checks, according to television station KSTP. One of the sobriety checks led to the charge of being under the influence of alcohol, and other charges are pending, the report indicates.

A Delta spokesman said that Schroeder was carrying a "bottle" of some kind of alcohol, but did not offer any more specific information.

Schroeder was booked and later released Tuesday pending results of toxicology tests, which could take a long as a week.

When he was arrested, all passengers had been boarded for Flight 1726 to San Diego, but the plane had not yet pushed back from the gate. The passengers were required to leave the airplane and were "slightly delayed" according to authorities.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report