Drunk America West pilots cannot be prosecuted

Hi all,

"news" wrote:
Judge: State cannot prosecute pilots accused of drunkenness
By The Associated Press
(mostly snipped)

The pilots were fired and stripped of their commercial licenses. As a
bail condition, they were barred from recreational flying as well.

OK... this is the part that puzzles me. No surprise that they were fired.
Did the FAA strip them of their license? And, how could a bail condition
be upheld if the State had no authority? Since their blood alcohol level
was below that required for Federal criminal charges, and the State has no
case, shouldn't any bail be recinded?

Neil

Neil Gould wrote:
Hi all,

"news" wrote:

Judge: State cannot prosecute pilots accused of drunkenness
By The Associated Press
(mostly snipped)

The pilots were fired and stripped of their commercial licenses. As a
bail condition, they were barred from recreational flying as well.


OK... this is the part that puzzles me. No surprise that they were fired.
Did the FAA strip them of their license? And, how could a bail condition
be upheld if the State had no authority? Since their blood alcohol level
was below that required for Federal criminal charges, and the State has no
case, shouldn't any bail be recinded?

Neil



No State has the authority to revoke a pilots license, regardless of
what the local bureacrats might think. Only the FAA has authority over
pilots license , and any matters dealing with flight.

Roger Tracy wrote:
Sounds like she left the door open to the states to screw with us
private types.

"news" wrote in message
news:uso0jvgm3q7l1topue4h0rj027kko4vf7e@news...

Judge: State cannot prosecute pilots accused of drunkenness
By The Associated Press

But she noted her decision was a ''narrow holding'' based on the
circumstances of the pilots' case and did not apply to anything
besides regularly scheduled commercial flights.






A state judge is powerless to suspend, or revoke a pilots license. Only
the FAA can do this. If she thinks she can she is sadly mistaken, and
the Feds will not let some power hungry state judge undermind their
authority. She is dreaming.

kevin wrote in message news:gn8Ya.79676$Ho3.11153@sccrnsc03...

A state judge is powerless to suspend, or revoke a pilots license. Only
the FAA can do this. If she thinks she can she is sadly mistaken, and
the Feds will not let some power hungry state judge undermind their
authority. She is dreaming.

The FAA has a good record of allowing state and local governments to
undermine their authority.

Several years ago, Las Cruces, NM enacted city ordinances about the
use of radios and traffic patterns at the (non-towered) local airport.
You could get a ticket for not using the radio and not flying the
traffic pattern like the airport manager wanted you to. The FAA
refused to get involved. Fortunately, an influential local pilot
convinced the city council to repeal the ordinance after a year or so.

Also a few years ago, the city of Mesa, AZ had an ordinance that
mandated all aircraft over the city maintain 1000 AGL or more. They
actually had city police helicopters chasing down airplanes and giving
out tickets. The FAA again showed zero interest and chose not to
challenge the ordinance.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

Neil Gould wrote:

OK... this is the part that puzzles me. No surprise that they were fired.
Did the FAA strip them of their license?

Yep.

And, how could a bail condition
be upheld if the State had no authority? Since their blood alcohol level
was below that required for Federal criminal charges, and the State has no
case, shouldn't any bail be recinded?

The State is appealing. Charges will remain placed until the State exhausts
all appeals. The State can still require bail until then.

George Patterson
The optimist feels that we live in the best of all possible worlds. The
pessimist is afraid that he's correct.
James Branch Cavel

John Galban wrote:
kevin wrote in message news:gn8Ya.79676$Ho3.11153@sccrnsc03...

A state judge is powerless to suspend, or revoke a pilots license. Only
the FAA can do this. If she thinks she can she is sadly mistaken, and
the Feds will not let some power hungry state judge undermind their
authority. She is dreaming.


The FAA has a good record of allowing state and local governments to
undermine their authority.

Several years ago, Las Cruces, NM enacted city ordinances about the
use of radios and traffic patterns at the (non-towered) local airport.
You could get a ticket for not using the radio and not flying the
traffic pattern like the airport manager wanted you to. The FAA
refused to get involved. Fortunately, an influential local pilot
convinced the city council to repeal the ordinance after a year or so.

Also a few years ago, the city of Mesa, AZ had an ordinance that
mandated all aircraft over the city maintain 1000 AGL or more. They
actually had city police helicopters chasing down airplanes and giving
out tickets. The FAA again showed zero interest and chose not to
challenge the ordinance.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)


That does not sound good. I did not think local authorities , or state
police had the authority to even ask to see your pilots licence .

"Neil Gould" wrote in
:

Hi all,

"news" wrote:
Judge: State cannot prosecute pilots accused of drunkenness
By The Associated Press
(mostly snipped)

The pilots were fired and stripped of their commercial licenses. As a
bail condition, they were barred from recreational flying as well.

OK... this is the part that puzzles me. No surprise that they were
fired. Did the FAA strip them of their license? And, how could a bail
condition be upheld if the State had no authority?

the state is appealing and bail is likely to be continued pending the
apeal.

Since their blood
alcohol level was below that required for Federal criminal charges,
and the State has no case, shouldn't any bail be recinded?

Neil

kevin wrote in message That does not sound good. I did not think local
authorities , or state police had the authority to even ask to see your
pilots licence .

In the US, you are required to show your airman certificate to ANY law
enforcement officer who asks. You don't have to surrender it, but you must
show it. Additionally, now you must accompany your airman certificate with
another government issued photo identification.

D.

On Wed, 06 Aug 2003 22:18:51 GMT, kevin wrote:

That does not sound good. I did not think local authorities , or state
police had the authority to even ask to see your pilots licence .

I was told that they do. I seem to recall such questions arising on
the Private ASEL written test.

Rob

kevin wrote in news:f9fYa.55301$cF.19245@rwcrnsc53:

That does not sound good. I did not think local authorities , or state
police had the authority to even ask to see your pilots licence .

14 CFR 61.3 (L)(3)

(I used capital letter "L" to avoid confusion with the number "1")

--
John Godwin
Silicon Rallye Inc.