Flying Under The Influence, Part 1

Passengers put their lives in the hands of their flight crews when they step onto an airplane. But what if pilots violate the trust passengers bestow? In 1990, Lyle Prouse was the first pilot arrested for being drunk in the cockpit when he attempted to fly Northwest Airlines Flight 650 from Fargo, North Dakota, to Minneapolis. Today, a pilot is pulled from a flight for being too intoxicated to fly about once a month, according to experts. In this episode of AIN’s The Human Factor, multiple pilots tell their stories of dealing with addiction while in the cockpit and explain how their actions affected their careers. This episode also explores how the FAA, pilot unions, and companies have worked together to create the Human Intervention Motivation Study (HIMS) Program to help addicted pilots return to the cockpit.