A drunken Pottstown pilot who flew a single-engine plane over Philadelphia International Airport Jan. 15 came within 900 feet of a 747 jetliner, Montgomery County's district attorney said yesterday after filing new charges. John V. Salamone was arraigned on charges of drunken driving, risking a catastrophe and reckless endangerment.
Limerick police had already charged Salamone with public drunkenness. If convicted of the new charges, he faces a maximum of 11 years in prison.

"That airliner, I'm told, was fully loaded with passengers," said District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr., who called Salamone's flight a "near miss."

Tests showed that Salamone's blood-alcohol content was 0.15 percent, and that his blood contained alcohol and Valium. The legal limit for drivers is 0.08 percent, for pilots it's 0.04 percent.

Castor filed the drunken driving charge based on his interpretation of the law that the airways above the county can be treated as roads. Pennsylvania law does not address drinking and flying. He said he would ask a judge to review his decision………. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/n...al/7832007.htm

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