Air Controller Bumped After 2nd DUI Arrest

An air traffic controller arrested on his way to work at Los Angeles International Airport last Saturday night on suspicion of drunk driving and resisting arrest has been relieved of duties related to air safety and reassigned to non-critical tasks, the FAA said Wednesday.

George R. Stevens, 31, of Canyon Country, a controller for six years, was convicted of drunk driving in another case last October, but he said the Federal Aviation Administration took no action against him at that time after he assured the FAA’s regional flight surgeon that it was a one-time episode related to family troubles.

FAA spokeswoman Barbara Abels said she could not comment on the earlier case, except to say that it would be part of a full FAA investigation into the current matter.

Abels said that if the FAA concludes that Stevens “does indeed have a chemical abuse problem,” he will be given an order to undergo a rehabilitation program, which might mean either hospitalization or outpatient treatment, depending on the doctor’s opinion. During his rehabilitation, he would continue to be paid, she said.

“If he successfully completes the program, he is returned to duty but very carefully monitored for at least a year,” she said.

“If an employee refuses to enter a rehabilitation program, they are given a letter of proposed removal” (a notification that they will be fired), she added. An appeal can be made to the FAA’s Merit System Protection Board.

Contacted at his home, Stevens said he is willing to undergo rehabilitation. He described himself as “despondent” over what has happened and said that he is proud that in his years of operating radar surveillance of aircraft, he has never made an error of any seriousness.

“I’m concerned about the safety of the flying public,” he said. “That’s my job. I’d never intentionally try to harm anybody.”

Stevens was headed for his radar surveillance job about 11:25 p.m. Saturday night when, according to California Highway Patrol Sgt. John Bailey, he was observed driving on Soledad Canyon Road at about 75 m.p.h. and tailgating another vehicle.

When he was stopped, Bailey said, Stevens was given a field sobriety test and then booked for drunk driving and resisting arrest when he tried to stop the officers from handcuffing him. Bailey added that Stevens refused to take a blood alcohol test.

Stevens said Wednesday he has not yet decided how to plead to the misdemeanor charges. He denied that he had resisted arrest, saying that he had only told the highway patrolman that the handcuffs were too tight.

Now free on his own recognizance, Stevens will be arraigned Sept. 17 in Newhall Municipal Court.

A statement from the office of Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner noted that Stevens is on probation from his last drunk-driving conviction. If convicted of the new charges, the statement said, he could receive a minimum of two days in jail, as well as 30 days for the prior conviction. In addition, he could be sentenced to four days in jail and revocation of his driver’s license for two years based on his refusal to take a blood alcohol test.