Ruling: State can prosecute 2 pilots

A federal appeals court decides Florida has jurisdiction in the drunken flying case against two former America West pilots.

MIAMI - State prosecutors can pursue charges against two fired America West pilots accused of being drunk in the cockpit, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

A federal judge previously ruled that the state did not have jurisdiction in the case, but a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta reversed that decision.

The appeals court said state prosecution should have been allowed to run its course before the federal courts got involved.

The pilots backed their Airbus, carrying 124 passengers, from Miami International Airport for a flight in July 2002. Miami-Dade police officers, alerted by airport security guards that the pilots smelled of alcohol when leaving the terminal to board their plane, raced to prevent the jet's takeoff and had it returned to the gate.

Blood-alcohol test results for pilot Thomas Cloyd and co-pilot Christopher Hughes were higher than the 0.08 percent at which state law considers someone too impaired to operate a vehicle safely but lower than the federal criminal standard of 0.10 percent.

The state later released videotape showing the pilots spent much of the previous night drinking at a popular bar in Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood.

"We felt that state court was an appropriate venue when we first filed the case, and obviously we would be happy to pursue its prosecution," said Ed Griffith, spokesman for the State Attorney's Office.

Attorneys for the pilots didn't immediately return calls after hours Wednesday.

The appeals court reversed a decision by U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Seitz, who sided with the pilots in August by ruling that Congress carved out aviation safety as an area of federal jurisdiction.

[Last modified July 21, 2004, 23:20:22]