AA FA Admits to Reporting for Work With a BAC Nearly 8x the Legal Limit
Jeff Edwards December 07, 2016
An American Airlines flight attendant was removed from a transatlantic flight because airport security smelled alcohol on her breath prior to boarding.
A veteran flight attendant who has worked for American Airlines for nearly 30 years will likely see her long career come to an ignoble end after admitting to arriving drunk to work on a Manchester Airport (MAN) to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)-bound flight. Stacey Rosehill had already started her pre-flight preparations when she was taken into custody after airport workers alerted Manchester Airport Police that the 57-year-old smelled strongly of alcohol and appeared intoxicated.
According to court papers, Rosehill told authorities that she had dinner with friends the previous evening at a BYOB restaurant and also admitted to drinking a minibar-sized bottle of whiskey to help her sleep several hours before her flight the next afternoon. When police administered a breathalyzer on the scene, the crew member registered more than eight times the legal limit for performing an aviation function. The alcohol reading was also more than double the legal limit for operating a motor vehicle.
“To be fair to her, in interview she gave a candid account to police,” Prosecutor Nicola Yeadon told the courtroom. “She had drunk more than usual the night before and her last drink was at 2am. She felt fine for work and if she had known she was over the limit she wouldn’t have gone to work. She apologized, saying she was extremely sorry and embarrassed at being arrested.”
The US citizen was ordered to pay fines and court costs totaling 255 pounds before leaving the country. While the inebriated flight attendant escaped serious legal repercussions in court, her decades-long career hangs very much in the balance. Rosehill remains suspended from her job without pay pending a formal disciplinary hearing upon her return to the US.
“This is something we take seriously and we will handle it appropriately, as the safety and care of our customers and employees is our highest priority,” American Airlines told the Manchester Evening News in a statement. “We are cooperating with local law enforcement. Further questions should be referred to them.”
[Photo: Shutterstock]
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The article is a little inconsistent with the BAC reading ... indicated that she was twice the limit for operating a motor vehicle. So, that would be .16 (.08 x 2) ... that also seems a bit unlikely for someone whose last drink was supposed to be 10 hours prior. There's little chance she was blowing .32 (at least I can't imagine) ... a life threatening concentration ... after laying off for 10 hours.
Let's be clear - she is still lying. "Rosehill told authorities that she had dinner with friends the previous evening at a BYOB restaurant and also admitted to drinking a minibar-sized bottle of whiskey to help her sleep several hours before her flight the next afternoon." 1. She said her last drink at 2AM. Even then, a single mini-bar bottle of whiskey. Prior to that, no alcohol for hours. 2. Flight leaves at 12 noon. 3. 10 hours later she blows a .32 BAC? (.04 FAA legal limit x 8 = .32) Simply impossible. The body burns alcohol at a pretty standard rate. (.015 percent of BAC per hour) So 10 hours later, her body would have burned .15 BAC, To still be THAT drunk 10 hours later, she had to be completely blacked out drunk and/or drinking much later in the evening. “To be fair to her, in interview she gave a candid account to police,” - Wrong. She is lying to cover her tracks. Now she is lying to investigators. She should be fired and banned from ever working on a flight crew again.
I'd somewhat understand the preaching and lecturing in the article if she was flying the plane. What's an FA gonna do? A DUI with the drink cart, serving alcohol to other drunks? Sure they ae hired to save passengers from the burning wreckage but that's a fat stretch....
For most people arrested of DUI, it's not their first time driving over the legal limit. I would suspect the same stat applies to crews of airliners.
Did she say how many other times she has flown drunk in her 30 years?