NEWS: Armed Pilot Charged With Intoxication, page 1

An AitTran pilot was stopped by a screener at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas smelling of alcohol. To complicate matters the pilot was also carrying a firearm. Oliver Paul Reason Jr was arrested in the cockpit shortly after he passed through the checkpoint. Reason is permitted to carry the firearm according to the Transportation Security Administration. The flight with 60 passengers was canceled.

story.news.yahoo.com
LAS VEGAS - An armed AirTran Airways pilot was charged with operating an aircraft under the influence after a federal screener at McCarran International Airport smelled alcohol, authorities said Thursday.

Las Vegas police arrested Oliver Paul Reason Jr., 37, in the cockpit of the AirTran plane shortly after he passed through an airport checkpoint Wednesday night, according to the Transportation Security Administration, police and the airline.

Orlando-based AirTran Holdings Inc. issued a statement Thursday saying the airline followed its safety procedures to ensure the Atlanta-bound aircraft was held at the gate.

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I'm glad that the screener caught this and followed up on it. Who knows what would have happened if this person had been allowed to fly. You have to wonder if his co-pilot would have said anything if he had smelled the alcohol. I am always amazed that people seem to think that they can get by and that nobody will detect the distinctive smell.