Drunk Air Traffic Controller Busted for Being Too High On the Job

Boy, I'll bet he's REALLY going to go on a bender when he gets FIRED!

Rehab normally doesnt "stick" unless the person going through it is a willing participent. Spin-dry

This individual has been eligible to retire for several years as he was hired in 1981. If he had an ounce of decency and respect for his profession and his colleagues, he should just retire and be done with air traffic. Instead, with the approval of management, he seems to have chosen rehab and the folks at Denver Center will have to put up with his foul mouth and obnoxious laughter for a few more years. Way to go, management! Do not fire someone who reports to work inebriated but make damn sure to write controllers up for saying "nine" instead of "niner" during those useless over-the-shoulders evaluations (ATCS, you know exactly what I am taking about).

I spent 23 years as an Air Traffic Controller. Both the actions of this controller and the reaction by the FAA are unacceptable. Although this is a stressful job there are other ways of venting the stress without drinking yourself to a point where you are potentially putting lives at stake. Screw rehab, send him home PERMANENTLY!!!!!!!!

So does the ATC Union have a deal where controllers who drink before going on duty or during duty cannot be FIRED, they have to be offered rehab? Between having your junk jiggled and the looney Air Traffic Controllers it makes it pretty difficult to fly anywhere you can reasonably drive. Who are we blaming for this, Bush or Reagan...surely we cannot hold Obama responsible for things that happen during his administration...that would be so un PC

And then they wonder why the planes hit each other on the runways. FIRE HIM

I worked 30+ years as a train dispatcher under similar alcohol rules. If he was .02 6 hours into the shift he came to work impaired and could have caused a serious accident. He'll get one more chance after rehab but he'd better wlak the straight and narrow. BTW I'm sure controllers are subject to random testing just as we were. You are required to not drink anything for the 8 hours preceding the start of your tour.

Why is ANY alcohol allowed in the bloodstream of a working Air Traffic Controller? Is a surgeon allowed to drink alcohol before surgery? Can ailine pilots work with alcohol in their system? Does the public know what is going on in this regard? How many controllers get tested each day? Why not more of them?

It sounds like no damage was done and the FAA seems to have it under control. I have no idea what the effects of .02 and .04 alcohol levels would have on a normal person. What would a normal persons alcohol level be if they met with some friends and had one drink with dinner before going to work? Can anyone honestly say that one drink with a meal would make a normal person dangerous to himself or others? This man worked for 6 hours and nobody, no fellow controller or pilot, seemed to notice any impaiarment. He would have finished his shift and nobody would ever know he had an .04% alcohol level while working that day if the FAA officials hadn't dropped in for random testing.

i'm glad he went with rehab and i hope it "sticks".