Airline Dumps Allegedly Drunk Pilots

July 3, 2002

"America West prides itself on its unwavering focus on safety for its customers and its employees. Anything that jeopardizes safety will not under any circumstances be tolerated." Airline spokeswoman Janice Monahan

(CBS) American West is firing the two pilots charged with trying to fly a jetliner to Phoenix while allegedly drunk, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

Pilot Thomas Porter Cloyd and co-pilot Christopher Hughes have been sent letters "notifying them of our intent to terminate their employment," spokeswoman Janice Monahan told CBS Radio News.

She said the letters were delivered Tuesday. The pilots can appeal through their union contract if they choose, she said, and that could be a fairly lengthy process.

Cloyd, 44, and Hughes, 41, were charged Monday with operating an aircraft under the influence and operating a motor vehicle under the influence.

"This is probably the first time we've been involved in something quite like this," Ed Munn, of the Miami-Dade police department, told CBS News. "Generally, a D.U.I., you think it's a car on the street, not a jumbo jet getting ready to take off for Phoenix."

Both had blood-alcohol levels above the legal limit of 0.08 when they were ordered to return their Phoenix-bound plane, carrying 124 passengers, back to the gate in Miami Monday morning because a screener had noticed they smelled of alcohol. Hughes initially told police it was "merely mouthwash," according to police reports.

According to the Miami Herald, this is not Cloyd's first brush with the law.

The newspaper says Cloyd, who lives in Chandler, Ariz., near Phoenix, was arrested in 1999 on a misdemeanor domestic assault charge in which he was accused of shoving his wife, spitting on her and berating her, in an incident in which the police report says he said he had been drinking.

The officer on the scene then reportedly said he asked Cloyd's wife if he had a drinking problem and she said he did drink a lot, but not at work. The assault charge was subsequently dropped.

According to the Herald, Cloyd was arrested again in 2000, for allegedly harassing his downstairs neighbor by shouting obscenities, pounding on her door and stomping on his floor - her ceiling. Cloyd reportedly told the arresting officer that he had been "drinking a lot," and he wound up pleading guilty to the harassment charge.

A spokesman for the Cloyd's family, Steve Hicks said, "We're saddened by the occurrences and the allegations made against them."

Hughes declined to comment.

Monahan calls the matter "disappointing" and "disturbing.

"America West prides itself on its unwavering focus on safety for its customers and its employees," she said. "Anything that jeopardizes safety will not under any circumstances be tolerated."

Cloyd and Hughes returned to their homes in Gilbert, Arizona Tuesday after they were released from jail on $7,000 bond. They could face five years in prison if convicted.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/01/national/main513958.shtml