Regulations and Government
CL604 Charter Copilot Allegedly Tries To Fly Drunk
The pilot was taken into custody, and subsequently fired by his employer.

A charter copilot accused of attempting to fly while intoxicated late last week has pled not guilty to the charges in a Michigan District Court. On the morning of August 25, Sean Michael Fitzgerald, a pilot with Long Island-based Talon Air, was removed from the cockpit of a Bombardier Challenger 604 during a pre-flight check at Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, Mich., after the flight’s captain determined there was something wrong and notified his dispatchers. According to news reports, Fitzgerald, a Florida resident, was arrested after his field-administered sobriety test showed a blood alcohol content of .30—more than seven times the FAA's legal limit of 0.04 percent blood alcohol concentration for operating an aircraft.