DWI...oops

ednowlin

ednowlin

Pre-Flight
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Apr 3, 2006
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Ed,III
I had a student call me up to cancel his flight, and said he went home and "had a bit too much fun"... I hate to hear that because he was a good pilot (working toward his PPL) and excited about aviation.

Drinking and driving is NOT worth the risk If you plan to have fun in Aviation! Flying is more fun than drinking!
 
he still can be a good pilot, a single DWI is not grounds for denial of a certificate. As long as he reports it as he's supposed to and keeps his nose clean - he'll be fine.
 
My bestfriend got a DWI when he was 18. He is doing great in the corporate field. So one isnt a show stopper. I wouldnt suggest doing it, but it's not a show stopper.
 
There are confirmed (and treated) alcoholics with class 1 medicals.

However, there is a lot of competition now for airline jobs so you would want to avoid (or fight with an atty) such as charge, because it could well be a serious blemish on a flying-job application.
 
Thanks for the input... he DID get a DWI, and reported it to the FAA. He may just have a few months delay in his training. He doesn't plan on a Flying job in the future so it shouldn't affect him too much.

An FAA freind of one of our instructors said DWI's are looked at sternly because "flying is about having good judgement, and making the right decisions; choosing to break the law (even if it IS in a car) is not showing good judgment at all".
 
Two things...

First, he can still train with his instructor, but can't solo -- no medical needed to take dual.

Second, if you have a DWI within the past few years, the airlines won't hire you. This is due to an intersection between FAA rules and the air carrier pilots' contract. The second DWI within a certain time frame is by FAA rules a mandatory 1-year suspension of your medical. However, under the contract, alcohol-related issues are considered a medical problem. Thus, you are considered medically grounded while your medical is suspended, and you stay on the payroll while you "heal." That means the company pays you to sit home for a year -- not good for the bottom line. I've spoken to several major and regional airline hiring offices about this, and their position is clear -- while they can't fire folks who get a first DUI while working for them, they don't hire folks with recent DUI's because they aren't willing to risk the second offense. You won't find this in writing, but as long as there are folks with no DUI's available to hire, the application of anyone with a DUI goes to the bottom of the pile.
 
Makes sense, but based on what we know - we have a student with one DWI. He's a long way from worrying about airlines (unless he's in an ab-initio school and it doesn't sound like that here). I'm not sure if reporting it on the medical application for his student ticket will cause a deferral to OKC or not, but unless he's got multiple DWIs it should get issued pretty quickly. So he should be able to continue his training without a very long wait.
 
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