Sunday, August 28, 2016

Two United pilots arrested for being too DRUNK to fly

  • Brady Grebenc, 35, and Carlos Licona, 45, were arrested Saturday at 9am
  • The pair had been scheduled to fly from Glasgow, Scotland, to Newark, NJ
  • But they were taken in by police after 'concerns were raised' 
  • They are currently in police custody on suspicion of trying to fly drunk 
  • Both claim to be military vets and instructors with decades of experience
  • Licona was awarded in 2013 by the FAA for being a 'positive example'
  • New crew eventually took the 141 passengers to New Jersey ten hours later

Friday, August 26, 2016

Co-pilot was nearly 4 times over legal limit

A co-pilot on a charter plane in Michigan bound for Massachusetts was arrested Thursday after a colleague suspected that he was drunk.

Traverse City police Capt. Kevin Dunklow said the Talon Air co-pilot’s breath test showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.30, nearly four times the legal threshold for drunken driving.

Talon Air praised its employee for discovering the suspect was drunk.

“We are very proud of Captain Manny Ramirez’ immediate action in detecting the co-pilot’s condition and removing him from his position,” Talon Air said. “This is yet another example of Talon Air’s safety procedures working effectively on behalf of our clients and for airport safety.”

Talon Air said the co-pilot was “immediately terminated” following the incident. His name hasn’t been released.
Considering the difficulty of identifying alcoholics it is probable that the percentage of licensed commercial pilots who are active alcoholics is similar to the percentage for the general public.

 

Monday, August 15, 2016

Ivan the Not-So-Terrible

by Neil MacFarquahar

 The governor of the small Russian region of Oryol is trying to convince people that Ivan the Terrible was not so bad.
 ...  Ivan’s more dubious deeds include founding the first version of Russia’s secret police and beating his own son to death.

For my views on Ivan read pages 161-166 in Vessels of Rage ...

Also available on Google Play.