Airline Gets 2nd Alcohol Citation
By Copyright 2007 Albuquerque Journal BY JEFF PROCTOR Journal Staff Writer
State officials on Tuesday issued a citation to US Airways for serving alcohol to an intoxicated person — its second citation this year.
The state determined that Ernest Wright had at least three drinks at the airport in Reno, Nev., and two at the Phoenix airport before being served two shots of vodka by US Airways on his flight to Albuquerque.
He had at least seven drinks between about 6 and 10 p.m. Saturday, said Peter Olson, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.
US Airways received the first citation in January in the Dana Papst case.
Papst, who had been drinking on a US Airways flight from Phoenix to Albuquerque on Nov. 11, slammed into a vehicle carrying the Gonzales family on Interstate 25 near Santa Fe. Five of the Gonzaleses were killed, along with Papst, whose blood alcohol concentration was 0.32 percent — four times the state’s presumed level of intoxication.
Tuesday’s citation stems from an incident on Saturday, in which Wright, 49, of Albuquerque was stopped at a DWI checkpoint in the South Valley about 25 minutes after leaving the Albuquerque International Sunport.
Wright, who also had flown into Albuquerque from Phoenix, registered a blood alcohol concentration of 0.16 percent, police said. He was charged with aggravated DWI.
A representative from US Airways could not be reached for comment Tuesday. But a spokeswoman for the airline told the Journal on Monday that US Airways officials are investigating the Wright incident internally.
“He was drinking vodka,” Olson said. “On the plane, our agents have determined that he had two shots.”
DPS, he said, will forward the results of its investigation to the Alcohol and Gaming Division of the state Licensing and Regulations board.
“They have their own administrative process that reviews liquor licenses,” Olson said.
At the time of the Papst incident, the airline was issued a cease- and-desist order to stop serving alcohol on flights in and out of New Mexico until it received a liquor license.
US Airways applied for and received a temporary license in March. A hearing for a permanent license hasn’t been scheduled, and officials have said the second citation could affect the outcome of the license application.
Olson said DPS issued the first citation after the Papst incident “in case something like this happened again — to set a precedent.”
“The bottom line for all of this and the only reason we’re doing this is to stop drunken driving,” he said. “If people are drinking a lot before they get on an airplane, then drink some more in the air, obviously they’re going to be intoxicated when they get off the plane. The idea is to make sure they don’t get behind the wheel of a car.”
Investigators are looking into other tips about airlines serving intoxicated people, he said.
“People have been calling and telling us anecdotally that when flights are canceled or delayed, airlines are handing out drink vouchers,” Olson said. “So we’re interested in finding out how much truth there is to that, and whether a problem may exist.”
(c) 2007 Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.