‘Impaired’ JetBlue pilot pulled from cockpit said he had 7 or 8 drinks beforehand

A JetBlue pilot was plucked from the cockpit and put into police custody Wednesday after a breathalyzer test found him to be more than four times over the legal limit for flying.

Tests confirmed the pilot, who was just about to take off from Buffalo, N.Y., had a blood alcohol level of 0.17, transit police said. Federal rules set a 0.04 limit for flying.

A tweet from the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority identified the pilot as James Clifton, 52, of Orlando, Fla.

A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer told law enforcement that Clifton seemed “impaired” as he went through security, reports NBC News.

According to TSA spokesperson Helen Tederous, Clifton told authorities he had between seven and eight drinks before boarding the flight.

Clifton’s co-pilot told police that the two had gone out for dinner the night before, and that Clifton stayed behind at the restaurant when he left, reports the Associated Press. He missed the airport shuttle the next morning and arrived late to the airport in an Uber.

Trending Stories

Before submitting to the test, Clifton allegedly said he needed to get his gun from the plane’s cockpit, Tederous told NBC. Pilots are permitted to carry handguns on planes so long as they are licenced and trained to do so.

“The safety of JetBlue’s customers and crewmembers is our first priority. We adhere to all DOT rules and requirements concerning alcohol at all times and have a very strict zero tolerance internal alcohol policy,” JetBlue spokesperson Derek Dombrowski told People.

Dombrowski confirmed the pilot had been removed from his duties.

The flight was temporarily delayed Wednesday morning. Passengers on their way to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said they watched from the plane as Clifton was placed in a patrol car.

“Whatever the procedures are before you fly, they should have caught him before he was on the plane but they didn’t. He was on the plane in the cockpit,” Desiree Breckenridge Barnes-Jean told WGRZ-TV.

“The upsetting thing is all of our lives would have been jeopardized.”

JetBlue said they will conduct an internal investigation.