STRUCK GUM
Drunk American pilot chewed gum to cover reek of alcohol when he arrived for Glasgow Airport flight He joked with his wife in court yesterday .. until a 10-month jail sentence wiped smile from his face
AN ALCOHOLIC pilot was jailed yesterday for being drunk as he prepared to fly to the US.
Carlos Licona was seven times the drink-fly limit when he was hauled off a Boeing 757 at Glasgow Airport. The American, who had tried to hide the smell of booze by chewing gum, laughed and joked with his wife in court before he was jailed for 10 months.
Licona has had a drink problem
for “many years”. And the first officer was within minutes of co-piloting the United Airlines flight to Newark, New Jersey, with 144 passengers on board when he was caught drunk. But, incredibly, he has not lost his job and hopes to return to flying. Paisley sheriff David Pender told Licona: “You were in a very responsible position of trust – there were 144 passengers that were relying on you and the other pilots to keep them safe.” The court heard that icona was snared when airport staff smelled drink on his breath during security checks before he boarded the plane. They alerted police, who took him off the flight in front of 72 passengers who had already taken their seats.” Licona, 45, of Humble, Texas, was breath-tested and found to have 63microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The fly limit is 9mcg. He told police: “I had a few beers with lunch yesterday with the rest of the crew and a few with dinner.” In reality, he had sat up downing drinks after other United Airlines staff went to bed. Procurator Fiscal Depute Scot Dignan said Licona had arrived off a flight the day before and spent the evening in a local Hilton hotel before returning to the airport the following morning for the early flight back to Newark. The prosecutor added: “As United Airlines cabin crew and pilots passed through the body scanners, the alarms activated. “While conducting a search (a security officer) spoke to him and could detect the clear smell of alcohol from the pilot’s breath.
“All the flight deck and cabin crew where chewing gum – a sign they may have been trying to hide the smell of alcohol.”
Licona’s criminal behaviour caused the flight to be grounded for more than nine hours.
Defence lawyer Gordon Jackson QC said Licona was a family man with a military background prior to becoming a pilot.
He said the pilot, who has no previous convictions, had struggled with an alcohol addiction for a number of years.
After he returned to America following his arrest, he sought help for his addiction. Jackson added: “He has a drink problem. “What he has done, when he went back to the USA, has been to address his use of alcohol. In particular, going to something called HIMS – the Human Intervention Motivation Study.”
Jackson said the programme was designed spcifically to treat pilots with addiction problems.
The lawyer that said Licona, who admitted being drunk as he prepared to fly last August, had been suspended, but not sacked, by United Airlines.
The pilot hopes to return to flying once he has completed the addiction treatment programme and after being subjected to regular random alcohol testing.
The sheriff told him: “I have various concerns about this case.
“You state in the social work report that you’ve had a dependency on alcohol for many years but have taken no steps to deal with it until after this incident.
“You and one of your colleagues continued to drink after the rest of your colleagues had gone to bed and did so in the knowledge that you breached your employer’s eight-hour guidelines on drinking before the commencement of your shift.”