Southwest Airlines pilot removed from cockpit and faces DUI charge: report

A Southwest Airlines pilot was reportedly removed from a cockpit before a flight Wednesday after smelling of booze, and now faces a DUI charge.

David Paul Allsop reeked of alcohol and may have exhibited other signs of intoxication, a source familiar with the incident told CBS News. He was pulled from the cockpit before the flight, which was to depart Savannah, Georgia, for Chicago's Midway Airport.

Airport police removed him before the plane could take off, according to the report. A Southwest Airlines spokesperson told the outlet the pilot "has been removed from duty."

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"Customers were accommodated on other flights and we apologize for the disruption to their travel plans. There's nothing more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Employees and Customers," the airline said.

Chatham County Jail records reviewed by Raw Story showed Allsop, 52, was arrested Wednesday at the airport on a charge of driving under the influence. His bond was set at $3,500.

This isn't the first time a pilot has been accused of drinking and trying to fly.

In June 2023, Delta Air Lines pilot Lawrence Russell Jr., 61, was arrested after authorities said he was drunk in the cockpit before a flight from Edinburgh to New York.

And in March 2022, JetBlue pilot James Clifton, 51, was found to be about four times over the legal limit before a flight from Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale.

Such incidents, however, are exceedingly rare. FAA statistics show that just 99 out of nearly 117,000 U.S. pilots tested between 2010 and 2018 were found to exceed the legal limit.