Al Czervik

Ignorance here too. Had a buddy go through this. Look up disease. Child molesters do not have a disease.

The Definition of Alcoholism, August 26, 1992, Morse and Flavin 268 (8): 1012

USMCFLYR

Many argue that the illness at the center of it all is ADDICTION - - whatever that addiction may be.

USMCFLYR

Royer

That doesn't even make any sense. Moving on

Windsor

Spoken like someone who has no knowledge on the subject. Thanks for your worthless addition to this thread.

This disease/illness/what ever you want to call it is not curable, but it IS treatable. The solution, complete abstinence for the rest of your life. Thats where the HIMS program comes into play. The program helps you achieve that goal. There is over a 90% recovery rate for pilots in the program as compared to less than 50% for regular people. The pilots that enter this program bust their tails to get back in the cockpit. They end up being some of the best employee's/pilots out there because they had to really work hard to get back.

I know a few of these guys/gals. I would put my life in their hands by riding on their aircraft anytime anywhere.

SpeedyVagabond

Howdy God, thanks for finally revealing yourself. Who'd a thunk it would be on a silly aviation forum.

ja2c

I feel ya brother. Best part about being drunk, driving. When in doubt, turn right. Yup, that's the ol' sh!t handle. I'd suggest wrapping your arm around it right now.

BelowMins

I agree with everything you've said here and understand that it is an illness that must be treated. That said where do we draw the line? When the pilot shows up to the van? When they gets on the plane? When they operate the flight? After they creats an unsafe situation during flight due to his/her condition? After they cause an incident/accident? How long do we allow the individual to use the "it's an illness" reason to show up to work not fit to fly?

2StgTurbine

I disagree. Two of my family members experienced this. I have seen one deal with their ups and downs first hand. There has been numerous times where we thought one was cured. One even had such a bad relapse that they can never drive again. They have experienced court action, jail time, fines, divorce, and family intervention. After over a decade of this I would be nervous to let any of them work in a similar industry. The truth is it takes a lot of hard work for them to stay sober and it is not that difficult for them to be pushed over the edge again.

But you and others are right, there must be something wrong with me for not wanting to share the cockpit or fly in the back of a plane with someone whose judgment has caused them to try to fly drunk before. The fact that I don’t agree with you means I know nothing of the subject.

ShyGuy

If that was the case, did this pilot declare "suicidal thoughts" on his last medical exam? I'm pretty sure that's grounding. I can sympathize with the pilot, but anyone who is this sick should NOT be flying!

Blueskies21

I didn't see anything in either the CNN or the Yahoo story that said that he failed any kind of drug or alcohol test. All it said was he was pulled off the flight. How do we know this wasn't just an unfounded accusation?