Pilot arrested for operating while intoxicated after plane crash in South Bend

ElPaso Pilot

ElPaso Pilot

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ElPaso Pilot
Ruh-roh!

I was going to comment on the six-pack visible in the first pic, but it appears to be one or two short.


SOUTH BEND — ...The small, red aircraft crashed and came to a stop at the entrance of the Heather Ridge subdivision off of Grant Road in western St. Joseph County shortly before 4:40 p.m. on Monday.

... Cunningham ran to his front yard to investigate.

"I went outside immediately and that’s when I saw this ultralight airplane crashed into a sign in our front yard," he said. "The pilot was out walking around. I immediately asked my wife to call 911 and get first responders rolling. The pilot asked me not to call the police but that wasn’t an option. A plane crashes in your front yard, of course you’re going to call the police."...

Police say the pilot, a 61-year-old man from Mill Creek, Ind., failed a sobriety test and was arrested at the scene for operating while intoxicated. ​

https://www.southbendtribune.com/st...injuries-police-faa-investigating/6505775001/
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Hmmm. Minimax ultralight, no N-number, so 91.17 doesn't apply. It's actually legal, if stupid, to drink while flying an ultralight, but they'll get him on 103.9 (hazardous operations) and 103.15 (congested area), at least. But if they weigh his plane and it's 255#, they'll throw the part 91 book at him.
 
And of course, Kathryn's Report with the followthrough!

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/searc...:00-05:00&max-results=1&start=3&by-date=false

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61-year-old XXXX of Mill Creek failed the field sobriety test after the crash and was arrested for Operating While Intoxicated - Endangerment and Operating While Intoxicated.


In the comments: don't they have grooming standards for pilot licenses theses days, or do you think that tosseled look came from the crash?
 
Just curious about the laws involved here. Can you get charged in state court for DUI for flying a plane? Don't Federal laws pre-empt state laws on aviation related matters? Just curious if anyone knows how a case like this will play out.
 
azpilot said:
Just curious about the laws involved here. Can you get charged in state court for DUI for flying a plane? Don't Federal laws pre-empt state laws on aviation related matters? Just curious if anyone knows how a case like this will play out.
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In Indiana, you can. The statute is not specific. Operating While Intoxicated applies to any vehicle. You can get arrested for riding a bicycle while drunk.
 
An acquaintance of mine got a DUI on his mower last Summer, kinda a bad one too. He fell off the wagon, hard. He was on his mower, trying to do a 1.5 mile resupply run. It’s normal for many to mow along the roadway, not weaving along the edge of the road, beelining to the all inclusive station.

I think cops know most of the tricks too. When one imbibes, quality of decisions goes down.
 
sourdough44 said:
An acquaintance of mine got a DUI on his mower last Summer, kinda a bad one too. He fell off the wagon, hard. He was on his mower, trying to do a 1.5 mile resupply run. It’s normal for many to mow along the roadway, not weaving along the edge of the road, beelining to the all inclusive station.

I think cops know most of the tricks too. When one imbibes, quality of decisions goes down.
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Is Steve your acquaintance?

 
I used to have an aquaintance in MD who had long ago lost any pretense of a driver's license after several DUIs. It was not illegal for him to bicycle. You'd see him peddling home from the grocery with a case of Old Milwaukee under one arm and several boxes of Little Debbie cream pies under the other. I think that was his entire diet.
 
flyingron said:
I used to have an aquaintance in MD who had long ago lost any pretense of a driver's license after several DUIs. It was not illegal for him to bicycle. You'd see him peddling home from the grocery with a case of Old Milwaukee under one arm and several boxes of Little Debbie cream pies under the other. I think that was his entire diet.
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Otis Campbell?
 
Pilot arrested for operating while intoxicated after plane crash in South Bend
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there’s an implication there that it’s legal to operate while intoxicated before a plane crash or when not in south bend.
 
Tools said:
Would YOU crawl into that thing sober? Just sayin....
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Perhaps he was. Flying while intoxicated pretty much proves a lack of properly functioning gray (or is it grey) matter ... :dunno:
 
It's been 15 years or more now, but a Zamboni driver in NJ got a DUI while resurfacing the ice at a local skating rink. He was observed to be operating the machine recklessly, and blew a 0.12 when police arrived.
 
Yep, in NJ you can't operate a motor vehicle under the influence, it matters not if you are on a road or not. Motor vehicle means anything that's propelled by other than human power other than motorized bicycles or things operating on tracks.

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Tools said:
Would YOU crawl into that thing sober? Just sayin....
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The Minimax has a pretty good reputation; there are a lot of them flying. Though that particular one looks a bit rough even accounting for the crash damage...
 
Except for any breathalyzer part, any sobriety test shortcomings should easily be dismissed because HE JUST CRASHED AN AIRPLANE. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defense rests.
 
I think he's got an out. From my google of that law, goofy as it is to include lawnmowers, it specifies the operation as public areas or places where an automobile might normally go. Presumably so you can mow your own lawn drunk. Well, since automobiles don't normally fly through the air...
 
I ran into a drinking and flying situation once. I landed and noticed two squad cars around an airplane parked on the ramp. The guy was inebriated enough that the FBO called the cops before he could take off. The cops showed up and the fellow decided it would be a good idea to depart in the morning. Apparently this kind of thing isn't as uncommon as we would like to believe.
 
Dana said:
Hmmm. Minimax ultralight, no N-number, so 91.17 doesn't apply. It's actually legal, if stupid, to drink while flying an ultralight, but they'll get him on 103.9 (hazardous operations) and 103.15 (congested area), at least. But if they weigh his plane and it's 255#, they'll throw the part 91 book at him.
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State code:
"
IC 8-21-4-8Operation of aircraft while under influence of liquor or drugs; health disorder; dropping objects while in flight; offenses

Sec. 8. It is a Class B misdemeanor for a person to operate an aircraft while he is under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance. It is a Class B misdemeanor for a person to operate an aircraft if he has been diagnosed by a physician as having an active case of epilepsy or similar disorders characterized by lapses of consciousness, or if he is under the influence of any drug or medicine for treatment of such a disorder which may bring about lapses of consciousness. It is a Class B misdemeanor for a person in an aircraft to drop anything from an aircraft in flight which may create any hazard to persons or property.

Formerly: Acts 1927, c.43, s.9; Acts 1947, c.42, s.1; Acts 1951, c.39, s.1. As amended by Acts 1978, P.L.2, SEC.862."

For the purpose of this law, ultralights are considered "aircraft".
 
HIMS really has NOTHING to do with preventing someone from flying drunk. It has to do with getting people identified back to flying after having been identified. No preventative measures, no real consequence.

It seems to be being viewed as “treatment”, or care, or something medically relevant. It’s not. It’s a method to deal with an administrative process.

It hasn’t, it doesn’t, it won’t EVER prevent this sort of malfeasance.
 
Robert Gee said:
Except for any breathalyzer part, any sobriety test shortcomings should easily be dismissed because HE JUST CRASHED AN AIRPLANE. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defense rests.
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Eh? I'm not following your logic.
 
Tools said:
HIMS really has NOTHING to do with preventing someone from flying drunk. It has to do with getting people identified back to flying after having been identified. No preventative measures, no real consequence.

It seems to be being viewed as “treatment”, or care, or something medically relevant. It’s not. It’s a method to deal with an administrative process.

It hasn’t, it doesn’t, it won’t EVER prevent this sort of malfeasance.
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I disagree with this statement. HIMS has kept very sick substance abusers out of the cockpit, especially of revenue flights. Since these people haven't been able to fly, it is not possible to substantially say x number of crashes have been prevented. Does it catch everyone? I doubt it. Are mistakes made? Yup. Unfortunately when you have a subset of pilots who are so self absorbed, so selfish, so sick, they will fly an airplane impaired, a draconian system like HIMS becomes necessary.
 
flyingron said:
Robert Gee said:
Except for any breathalyzer part, any sobriety test shortcomings should easily be dismissed because HE JUST CRASHED AN AIRPLANE. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defense rests.
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Eh? I'm not following your logic.
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I believe Robert's point is that it's possible that the pilot would flunk any field sobriety test due to being in shock from the accident, or just plain giddy over one's survival. The breathalyzer, though, would not be fooled.

Ron Wanttaja
 
TY Ron, that and other physical after effects. Hurt foot, twisted knee or a whack to the head.

Not an atty. but im pretty positive that the refusal of a breathalyzer is not admissible as evidence in court, same as the handheld testers. Only the calibrated ones at the station or the blood if they get a warrant. What would be interesting is if he could dodge the automatic suspensions that usually come with a refusal. It all depends on the exact words used to write the law.
Tools said:
Unfortunately, for him on a couple counts, he didn’t crash in the middle of the air!
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...or onto a private airfield as far as the local police problems.
 
wanttaja said:
I believe Robert's point is that it's possible that the pilot would flunk any field sobriety test due to being in shock from the accident, or just plain giddy over one's survival. The breathalyzer, though, would not be fooled.
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That was what I suspected he was trying to make, but it's an invalid argument. You're not going to develop HGN or other impairments just because you have been through an accident. Now if there were some demonstrated head trauma, perhaps.
 
flyingron said:
That was what I suspected he was trying to make, but it's an invalid argument. You're not going to develop HGN or other impairments just because you have been through an accident.
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I dunno…adrenaline does some weird things if you can’t use it to run like hell.
 
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