Morning, sir. >> Good morning. How are you? >> You doing okay? >> Yeah, fine. >> How many drinks did you have? >> A few beers, >> sir. We're just going to head up to the patrol car so that way we don't have to do all in front of the public eye. >> 5 minutes. That is how close 143 passengers came to boarding a plane with a drunk pilot in the left seat. >> Sir, how are you? >> You doing okay? >> Good. Fine. This is the moment David Alop's 30-year aviation career ended on a jet bridge in Savannah, Georgia. >> Last night, >> about how many hours ago? >> Uh, like 10 hours ago at least. >> January 15th, 2025, 6:00 a.m. Savannah Hilton Head International Airport. Southwest Airlines flight 3772 is scheduled to depart for Chicago Midway in 5 minutes. The plane is boarded. Passengers are buckled in. >> It feels good breathing that fresh air. >> Overhead bins are closed. The captain, David Paul Alop, age 52, is in the cockpit running his pre-flight checklist. Alop is a senior captain based out of Baltimore, Washington International. He has been flying commercial aircraft for decades. He has thousands of hours in the air. And right now, he is drunk. >> How many drinks did you have? >> A few beers, sir. 30 minutes earlier, a TSA agent in the crew screening lane noticed something wrong. >> Might be some creation. Someone detected smelled alcohol and then they reported. >> Alop smelled like alcohol. His eyes were glassy. He was unsteady. The TSA agent flagged airport police immediately. And that call is the only reason flight 3772 never left the ground. >> Watch this. The officer boards the plane. Passengers are sitting in their seats. They have no idea what is happening. The officer walks straight to the cockpit and asks Alop to step outside. Now, here's where it gets interesting. Also does not panic. He does not argue. He looks the officer dead in the eye and says he had three light beers. >> Few beers. >> Define a few beers. >> Like three. >> Okay. Yeah. >> 10 hours ago. At least. >> About how many hours ago? >> Uh like 10 hours ago at least. >> Three beers 10 hours ago. That is his story. The officer leans in and you can see the moment he makes his decision. He tells Alop he can smell alcohol on his breath. Clear as day. >> There's no need. >> Well, I can smell an odor consistent with an alcoholic beverage. >> Oh, sorry. >> Alap's response. He blames it on his nicotine gum. >> You have any fresh ones that haven't been in your mouth? >> Yeah. Right there. >> Nicotine gum. That is the defense. A commercial airline captain standing on a jet bridge with bloodshot eyes, flush skin, and the smell of alcohol coming off him like cologne is blaming it on nicotine gum. >> These >> gross. >> The officer asks him to take a field sobriety test. >> Eyes first. Just watch it cuz obviously I know you're not certified so like I have to do it, but just watch for and stuff. >> Also's first response is no. He says there is no need. Think about that for a second. >> The issue is would you agree to a blood draw to test your blood alcohol content? >> A man who is about to be responsible for 143 lives at 35,000 ft is telling a police officer there is no need to prove he is sober. He eventually agrees. And what happens next is hard to watch if you've ever been on a commercial flight. >> You will provide the field of sobriety with me right now? >> No. >> Why not? There's no need. >> Three tests. Walk and turn, one leg stand, horizontal gaze, standard DUI battery. The same tests a trooper would run on a college kid swerving out of a bar parking lot. Except this is a 52year-old airline captain on a jet bridge with a plane full of passengers 20 ft away. He fails all three. >> Okay. Well, the issue is is when you agreed to the field sobriety, you exhibited the symptoms and if you're refusing to a blood draw, that's that's DUI less safe than the willful intention to operate commercial aircraft. >> This is the moment he realized that 30 years of flying just ended on a Tuesday morning in Georgia. >> Seriously? >> Yes, sir. >> How did I feel? I got everything. the signs that you exhibited during those three tests. I'm able to articulate based off those and the odor coming off of your person. >> It's very consistent. >> The officer places him under arrest. DUI less safe. >> So, what's going to happen is if you if you don't agree to a blood draw, it'll be DUI less safe. You'll be booked into the Chadam County Detention Center and you can we'll give you a phone call. You can >> That's the Georgia charge. It means the state doesn't need a blood alcohol number. They just need to prove you were too impaired to safely operate. And when you fail every field sobriety test on a jet bridge while smelling like a brewery, that bar is cleared. Now, picture this from the passenger's perspective. You're sitting in your seat. The pilot just walked past you 20 minutes ago, coffee in hand, captain's uniform pressed. You felt safe. And now there's a 5-hour delay because the man who was about to fly your plane is in the back of a police car. >> The officer asked Alop to take a blood test to determine his exact blood alcohol level. He refused. Under Georgia law, you can refuse, but the refusal itself tells a story. >> No, hold on. >> There's no need. >> If you had three light beers 10 hours ago, you would blow zeros. You would want that test. You would demand it. The fact that ALOP refused tells you everything you need to know about those three light beers. FAA regulations are clear. You cannot fly within 8 hours of consuming alcohol. You cannot fly with a blood alcohol content of 0.04 or higher. That's half the legal limit for driving a car. Half. Because when you're responsible for 143 souls in a metal tube at 500 miles per hour, the standard is not the same as pulling out of a parking lot. You are entitled to add additional chemical tests of your blood or other bodily substances at your own expense and from qualified personnel of your own choosing. You've already agreed that you did not want to participate in the blood draw. So because of that, as now I'm going to detain you. Like I said, as long as you just continue to be cool with me, I'm cool with you. Okay. >> Southwest Airlines removed Alop from duty immediately. Within weeks, the FAA revoked his pilot certification. Revoked. Not suspended. Revoked. Under the FAA's prompt settlement policy, he can reapply in one year, but the career, the seniority, the reputation, those don't come back with a reapplication. The criminal case was referred to federal court. The Chattam County District Attorney confirmed this would be prosecuted at the federal level. As of today, Southwest Airlines confirms David Alop is no longer employed with the airline. David Paul Alop, age 52. Captain, thousands of flight hours, arrested on a jet bridge at 6:00 in the morning, 5 minutes from takeoff, charged with DUI less safe. FAA certification revoked. Career over. And the only reason 143 people made it home safe that day, a TSA agent who smelled something wrong and made a phone call. >> But I was say, I can't coax you in that you have your right. You said no. So based off that alone and based off the fields of writing you, >> even if I gave you blood, then nothing would change. >> Okay. >> Right. If you think this was a master class in how not to start your morning, wait until you see what a New Jersey police chief did after three times the legal limit. That one is next.