2 Pilots Charged With Being Drunk Will Be Fired, America West Says

MIAMI -- America West said Wednesday that it will fire the two pilots who were charged with trying to fly a jetliner to Phoenix while drunk.

Pilot Thomas Cloyd and co-pilot Christopher Hughes “have been sent a letter notifying them that our intention is to terminate their employment,” spokeswoman Janice Monahan said.

She said the letters were delivered Tuesday. The pilots can appeal through their union if they choose, she said.

The airline has worked closely with police, who provided information the airline needed to proceed with the firing, Monahan said. She did not elaborate.

Cloyd, 44, and Hughes, 41, were charged Monday by Miami-Dade County police with operating, while under the influence, an aircraft and a motor vehicle.

Both had blood-alcohol levels above the legal limit of 0.08 when they were ordered to return their Phoenix-bound plane, carrying 124 passengers, back to the gate Monday morning because a screener had noticed they smelled of alcohol. Hughes initially told police it was “merely mouthwash,” according to police reports.

Cloyd and Hughes returned to their Gilbert, Ariz., homes Tuesday after they were released from jail on $7,000 bond. They could face five years in prison if convicted.

Arizona police records show that Cloyd has been arrested twice for alleged alcohol-related offenses while at his home in Arizona.

Two years ago, Cloyd was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct after allegedly harassing his downstairs neighbor. He told police he had been “drinking a lot” before he shouted obscenities, pounded on her door and stomped on his floor, records show.

He was sentenced to two years’ probation.

In 1998, Cloyd had been drinking when he was arrested for misdemeanor domestic assault at his home near Phoenix. He admitted he spit on his then-wife and shoved her into a refrigerator with his chest.

Prosecutors dropped the domestic assault charge after Cloyd took an anger-management class, said Carla Boatner, administrator for Chandler Municipal Court.

A spokesman for the Cloyd family, Steve Hicks, said, “We’re saddened by the occurrences and the allegations made against them.”

Hughes declined to comment Tuesday.