Video shows Delta pilot moments before arrest for trying to fly while drunk
Newly released surveillance footage shows an allegedly boozed-up Delta pilot walking away from TSA screeners after telling them he was not ready to be checked, according to a new report.
Gabriel Lyle Schroeder, 37, of Rosemount, Minnesota, was cuffed on July 30 after police at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport found him reeking of alcohol and with a bottle of booze on him.
The video obtained by ABC News shows the pilot walking up to the screening area, walking off to a restroom and then returning to have his luggage checked.
Authorities have told the news outlet that Schroeder removed himself from the security line when he noticed TSA agents conducting additional screenings for crew members.
When he reached the screening area for the first time, he “appeared surprised,” airport authorities said.
When TSA agents asked him to put his bag on the table for screening, he told them “that he was not ready to be screened and left the area.”
The officers reported his “suspicious activity” to TSA police because they feared he might have a prohibited item in his luggage.
When police entered the restroom, they “located an unopened 1.75-liter bottle of Philips Vodka in the lone trash container,” according to court documents cited by ABC.
Schroeder was found in the cockpit of the Airbus A321, seated in the first officer’s chair, before the plane’s scheduled flight to San Diego, the report said.
“Detectives observed that the plane already had two passengers on board. Detectives asked Defendant if they could speak with him in the rear of the aircraft. … When asked, Defendant stated that he had last consumed alcohol three days prior,” the court documents said.
When the detectives questioned Schroeder, he allegedly told them he had not entered a restroom and that he only went to the Delta crew room.
“When questioned further, Defendant stated that he might have gone to the restroom, but denied discarding a bottle of alcohol in the trash,” the court documents said.
Schroeder, whose Breathalyzer test provided a reading of .065 percent blood-alcohol content, was removed by police 20 minutes before takeoff, an airport spokesman said. A blood-alcohol level of .04 or higher is illegal for pilots.
“Once we got to the plane, they said, ‘Hold up! Hold up!’” passenger John Wybest told ABC News affiliate ABC10.com in San Diego in July.
“For a pilot, he looked a little disheveled. He had … dire need of ironing, sloppy look. The other pilot looked like he walked out of GQ.”
Schroeder allegedly admitted to owning the discarded vodka bottle and leaving the screening area to get rid of it.
He also allegedly admitted to drinking a can of beer and three vodka drinks at his house the night before, according to ABC News.
A Delta rep told ABC News in July that another pilot had been assigned to complete the trip.
“Delta’s alcohol policy is among the strictest in the industry and we have no tolerance for violation,” the airline said previously. “Delta is cooperating with local authorities in their investigation.”