FAA Stands By Papst Ruling; Investigation Reexamined After Criticism By Governor

By KIERA HAY Journal Staff Writer

The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday reaffirmed its support for an agency investigation that determined that US Airways did not violate federal alcohol regulations in the case of a Tesuque man who killed five members of a family while driving drunk hours after getting off a US Airways flight.

The FAA’s jurisdiction in the investigation is limited to determining whether US Airways complied with the federal regulations for serving alcohol on aircraft, according to an FAA statement issued Tuesday. Federal regulations say airlines cannot allow people who appear intoxicated to board planes or be served alcohol.

"FAA safety inspectors determined that US Airways did not violate that regulation," the statement said.

After a report of the investigation appeared in the Santa Fe New Mexican on Sunday, Gov. Bill Richardson issued a statement criticizing the FAA and saying the agency should have conducted a more thorough investigation.

But the FAA said on Tuesday that, "The earlier investigation has been reviewed in light of local interest. There is no change in our original finding."

The agency investigated the incident after Tesuque resident Dana Papst got off a US Airways flight in Albuquerque Nov. 11, 2006, and drove the wrong way on Interstate 25 near Santa Fe three hours later, killing himself and five members of a Las Vegas, N.M., family headed home from a soccer tournament. Police have said Papst’s blood- alcohol content was four times the legal limit for driving.

The FAA’s investigation included statements gathered by safety inspectors taken from the crews of the aircraft and gate personnel in Reno, Nev., and Phoenix, the agency’s statement said on Tuesday.

Inspectors "also collected information from the local Sheriff Department’s investigation, including passenger statements."

Asked on Tuesday whether any passengers or airline employees had been directly interviewed by the FAA during its investigation, Roland Herwig, in the communications office of the FAA’s Southwest Region in Oklahoma City, told the Journal he was "sticking by the statement."

Papst was a passenger on a US Airways flight from Phoenix to Albuquerque a few hours before the crash, and passengers have said a man they believed to be Papst appeared to be drunk before the flight took off from Phoenix. Passengers also said Papst was served two travelsized bottles of Jack Daniel’s during the flight.

The state Department of Public Safety’s investigation into the incident was "thorough" and included accounts from witnesses who said Papst was already drunk when he was served on the flight, Richardson’s statement on Sunday said.

"I am not surprised that the FAA came to a different conclusion after failing to interview any passengers," he said.

Bob Hagan, spokesman for the state Regulation and Licensing Department, said on Tuesday, "We believe the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office and (DPS) conducted a very thorough and comprehensive investigation and came to a very different conclusion than the FAA. We stand by the results of the state’s own investigation into the incident."

Regulation and Licensing cited US Airways after the Papst incident for serving an intoxicated person, although the citation was not pursued because the airline didn’t have a state liquor license. In January and February, US Airways was one of three airlines ordered to stop serving alcohol on flights to and from New Mexico.

US Airways later applied for a New Mexico liquor license and was granted a 90-day license in March. That expired in June, and Regulation and Licensing officials chose not to renew it, stating that US Airways wasn’t making enough of an effort to implement materials from the New Mexico alcohol server training program. US Airways has since stopped serving alcohol on its New Mexico flights.

The airline received a second citation, which it is challenging, in May for serving alcohol to an Albuquerque man who was later arrested for driving with a blood-alcohol level two times the state’s legal limit.

Of the other two airlines ordered to stop serving alcohol in New Mexico, Northwest Airlines has submitted an application for a state liquor license and is currently operating under a temporary liquor license. Frontier Airlines has stopped serving alcohol on its New Mexico flights.

The Associated Press contributed to

this report.

(c) 2007 Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.