A pilot from Southwest Airlines was taken from the cockpit and detained after accusations surfaced that he attempted to fly under the influence. According to law enforcement footage released on Thursday, he attributed the smell of alcohol, pointed out by officers, to nicotine pouches.
David Allsop was preparing to depart Flight 3772 from Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport to Chicago Midway, when at around 6 a.m. on January 15, airport police approached him on the jet bridge at Gate 2, as noted in a Chatham County Police Department report.
When questioned about recent alcohol consumption, Allsop admitted to having “a few beers” about “ten hours ago,” as revealed by police body camera footage.
“Define a few beers?” officer Josiah Best asked.
“A few beers,” the pilot responded.
“Define a few beers?” Best repeated.
“Like three,” the pilot said. “Light beer, Miller Lite.”
Best asked Allsop, who has turned 53 since this incident, if he’d consent to field sobriety tests and the pilot refused, saying “there’s no need.”
“I can smell an odor consistent with an alcoholic beverage,” Best responded.
During the encounter, Allsop removed a nicotine pouch from his mouth, dropped it, collected it, and showed it to the officers, as captured both on video and in a written report.
“ditionally, I observed that Mr. Allsop had bloodshot, watery eyes and a flushed complexion,” Best noted in his report.
Allsop eventually consented to field sobriety tests and he struggled to follow the tip of a moving pen and to stand on one leg, police said.
The officer noted that Allsop “was unable to follow the tip of my pen with his eyes as instructed and instead moved his head and neck during the test.” Additionally, “Mr. Allsop swayed while holding his leg at a 45-degree angle,” as the report stated.
Allsop was arrested on a charge of DUI.
According to a statement from Southwest Airlines on Friday, Allsop “was immediately relieved from duty following the reported incident and is no longer with the company.”
David Chaiken, Allsop’s defense lawyer, insisted that the video footage shows no evidence of his client being impaired.
“The recently released bodycam video confirms what should be obvious to anyone who watches it — Captain Allsop committed no crime,” Chaiken said in a statement on Friday.
“Experts who have reviewed the video have concluded that the tests that led to his arrest were not performed correctly and that the proper procedures were not followed.”
