A Southwest Airlines pilot was arrested shortly before takeoff on Wednesday in Georgia after he allegedly showed up to work intoxicated, police say.
New Hampshire resident David Allsop, 52, was arrested at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport at around 7 a.m. on Wednesday, according to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office. He was charged with driving under the influence.
Allsop was apprehended just before Southwest Flight 3772, bound for Chicago, was about to leave Georgia. It departed shortly before 11 a.m., nearly four hours after it was scheduled to takeoff.
Southwest told Fox News Digital that it was looking into the incident and that Allsop, whose LinkedIn profile states that he is a pilot, has been “removed from duty.”
“We’re aware of a situation involving an Employee on Flight 3772 this morning from Savannah,” the airline said. “The employee has been removed from duty.”
Southwest also noted that the flight’s passengers were accommodated onto other flights while Flight 3772 remained grounded.
“Customers were accommodated on other flights, and we apologize for the disruption to their travel plans,” a spokesperson said. “There’s nothing more important to Southwest than the safety of our employees and customers.”
It is rare, but not unheard of, for a pilot to be arrested or apprehended for excessively drinking before a flight. Last May, Japan Airlines grounded a flight from Dallas to Tokyo after it was discovered that a pilot drank excessively the night before.
Although the pilot did not violate the internal guidelines against drinking within 12 hours of departure, Japan Airlines canceled the flight in order to “assess the captain’s physical and mental well-being.”
Authorities are actively investigating the incident.
