Report: Pilot's Blood-Alcohol Level Was Double Legal Limit
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A police report says a 50-year-old American Airlines co-pilot had a blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit and was having trouble with his cockpit seat just before an aborted takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport over the weekend.
The reports released Tuesday through a public records request say John Maguire registered .081 percent on a breath test Saturday morning. The limit for a pilot is .04.
"Police responded with a field breathalyzer and the co-pilot was indeed over the legal limits," Airport Public Affairs Director Michael Conway told WWJ. "They also took him to a local jurisdiction for a more sophisticated machine called the Data Master. On that machine, he also continued to be over the legal limit for a co-pilot."
Maguire, who is from Pennsylvania, was charged Monday with operating under the influence of alcohol and released pending arraignment. Prosecutor's office spokeswoman Maria Miller said no attorney is listed for him.
He was taken off the canceled Detroit-to-Philadelphia flight and initially denied drinking. A Transportation Security Administration employee reported Maguire appeared drunk when he went through security.
Airlines officials have said they are assisting investigators.
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