by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:12 AM ET, Wed July 31, 2019
Police arrested a Delta Air Lines pilot Tuesday after officers at a Minnesota airport smelled alcohol on his breath before he was scheduled to fly to California.
According to ABC7News.com, Transportation Security Administration authorities working at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport noticed a pilot skip an additional screening area designed specifically for crewmembers.
Airport police were called to the scene and found the pilot to be in possession of an alcoholic container, with officers saying in their report the unidentified Delta employee was suspected to be impaired.
Authorities arrested the pilot shortly after 11 a.m. local time in Terminal 1, but he was released about three hours later. The pilot is from Rosemont, Illinois and was scheduled to fly DL1728 from Minneapolis to San Diego.
In Minnesota, the legal alcohol limit for pilots is 0.04 percent, and the Federal Aviation Administration also prohibits any pilot from flying within eight hours of drinking alcohol.
"The case is still under investigation and we are awaiting final toxicology results, so a detailed report is not available at this time," airport spokesman Patrick Hogan said in a statement.
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