Pilot Linked to Alcohol Influenced Abuse

July 2, 2002 -- An America West pilot charged Monday with trying to fly a jetliner while drunk was arrested two years ago for verbally abusing a neighbor and admitted to "drinking a lot."

Thomas Porter Cloyd, 44, was charged earlier this week, before taking off on his scheduled Miami to Phoenix flight, with operating an aircraft under the influence and operating a motor vehicle under the influence. Tests found his blood-alcohol level above the legal limit of .08.

His 41-year-old co-pilot Christopher Hughes, who faces the same charges, initially told police it was "merely mouthwash," according to police. The men were released on $7,000 bond each. Arraignments are scheduled for July 22.

According to police reports obtained by ABCNEWS, Cloyd pleaded guilty in 2000 to charges of disorderly conduct for shouting obscenities at a neighbor, pounding on her door and stomping on his floor, records show.

The police report said: "At times, Cloyd continued to yell at me instead of listening to the answer of a lot of the questions he had asked me. Cloyd admitted to drinking a lot."

Cloyd was also arrested and charged with domestic abuse in 1998. According to police reports , Cloyd's then-wife Debbie told authorities that Cloyd came home drunk and "physically assaulted" her. Cloyd told police his wife also had assaulted him.

The police officer who filed the report wrote: "I could smell a faint odor of an alcoholic beverage from his face." But Cloyd denied he had been drinking that day.

Prosecutors dropped the domestic assault charge after Cloyd took an anger-management class, Carla Boatner, administrator for Chandler Municipal Court, told The Associated Press.

An America West spokesman said he was not sure if the airline knew about Cloyd's past problems. "What I can tell you is that these individuals had a clean record. We have no prior disciplinary actions or findings against either of these two pilots in this regard," said Jim Sabourin, the Phoenix-based airline's vice president of corporate communications.

Cloyd has worked for America West since 1990, while Hughes joined the airline in January 1999.

Support for Pilot

Those close to Cloyd say he was a man who cared greatly about his job.

"We regret what happened," said the friend, who asked to remain unnamed. "We believe it is sad. Tom Cloyd has an immense respect for his industry. He took his responsibility to his passengers seriously. Our hearts go out to his mother and his sister and fiancée. We are hopeful that somehow he can pursue his career that has been his life."

Cloyd had been a pilot since he was 15, according to a source close to the family. Prior to flying for America West, Cloyd flew as a private jet pilot in Midland, Texas, for various companies. Last year, Cloyd rose to the rank of captain with America West.

Flying was a family affair. Cloyd's father was also a pilot but died in a 1995 accident involving a historic World War II plane that was being flown in an air show, the source said. The B-26 bomber crashed in a rural oil field in Texas, killing all five crew members. John Thomas Cloyd, 63, was not the pilot on that flight.

Raising Suspicion

The men, both of Gilbert, Ariz., raised suspicion Monday as they went through security and became argumentative with airport security screeners, who would not let them pass with their cups of coffee, police said.

The screeners smelled alcohol on the pilots' breaths, and called Transportation Security Administration officials, who then notified Miami-Dade police, officials said.

Miami-Dade police responded, but the plane had left the terminal and was on its way to taxi and take off for Phoenix. It had to be called back to the terminal, police said. Observers told ABCNEWS affiliate WPLG in Miami that the tug or harness was still attached to the plane as it was being maneuvered into position for takeoff.

Cloyd tested positive for a blood-alcohol content level of .091, while Hughes registered a .084, police said. The Federal Aviation Administration sets the legal limit for pilots at .04. The state of Florida's legal limit is .08.

The plane, an Airbus 319, had been carrying 124 passengers. Flight 556 was canceled and the passengers were placed on other flights to Phoenix, an America West representative said.

Pilots can be fired for a single alcohol offense, and officials said the men will be fired if it is determined they had any alcohol in their system.

FAA rules ban pilots from drinking eight hours before a flight. America West has a tougher policy, increasing the time to 12 hours.

Pilots are subject to random alcohol testing but the federal government requires that fewer than 10 percent be tested each year. In the past two years, less than one half of one percent tested positive.

"There are probably 3,000 pilots who have been hospitalized and treated, rehabilitated and after a month or two or three, re-evaluated and successfully put back in the cockpit," said Dr. Joseph Pursch who started a pilot recovery program.

ABCNEWS' Dennis Powell, Lisa Stark, Charles Herman and Ariane DeVogue as well as ABC affiliate WPLG in Miami contributed to this report.