Police have just released bodycam footage showing the moments that led police to arrest a Southwest Airlines pilot for intoxication prior to flying passengers from Savannah, Georgia to Chicago.
In the video, obtained by WJCL News, flight attendants and other crew members are seen in a state of disbelief as officers approach Flight 3772 before the pilot, David Paul Allsop, emerges from the cockpit.
Officers quickly get to work, asking Allsop if he’s doing OK before asking when was the last time he had something to drink.
“Last night,” Allsop responds. “Like, 10 hours ago, at least.”
Allsop tells police he had a few beers.
“Like three,” he says.
Allsop has his hands in his pockets the entire time, and while he doesn’t appear combative, he’s also not exactly cooperating after police ask him if he’d submit to a field sobriety test.
The pilot insists there’s no need for a field sobriety test, even as the officer tells him he can smell alcohol on his breath. This prompts Allsop to take the nicotine gum he’s chewing out of his mouth to show the officer that that’s likely the reason.
Allsop ultimately retrieves his bag to show officers the nicotine gum packet he carries, but officers are not convinced. Allsop begrudinglyg submits to a series of field sobriety tests on the jet bridge, which he bombed.
Nearly halfway through the 30-minute bodycam footage, officers can be seen talking to the first officer explaining that Allsop exhibited signs of impairment and that there’s “a very strong probability that he’s going to be [arrested] for the willful intent to operate an aircraft while intoxicated.” The officer also tells the first officer to start making phone calls to look for another pilot.
The officer later relays to Allsop that, based on the three field sobriety tests, he exhibited signs of a DUI. Allsop was shocked to learn he failed the test.
“Seriously?” he reacted.
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Officers also asked Allsop if he’s willing to submit to a blood test. Allsop refuses, which ultimately leads to his Jan. 15 arrest at Savannah Hilton Head Airport.
According to multiple reports, it was a TSA agent who flagged police about a pilot possibly being intoxicated. The arrest resulted in a delay that lasted hours while Southwest scrambled to find a new pilot.
“We’re aware of a situation involving an Employee on Flight 3772 this morning from Savannah,” Southwest Airlines said in a statement in January. “The Employee has been removed from duty. 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.”
