Airline fires pilot who tests positive for drinking
August 13, 2002 Posted: 1:44 PM EDT (1744 GMT)

FORT WORTH, Texas (CNN) -- Mesa Airlines fired one of its pilots after he tested positive for consumption of alcohol before boarding his flight from Little Rock, Arkansas, to Charlotte, North Carolina, an airline spokesman said Tuesday.

Spokesman Brian Gillman said that Capt. Peter Treanor, 29, had been with the company for two and a half years with no previous disciplinary actions against him.

"The captain has been terminated, effective last night," Gillman said. "We have a zero tolerance policy."

Treanor lives in Charlotte, according to a report filed by Little Rock police.

The Federal Aviation Administration and Mesa, one of 10 regional airlines that form US Airways Express, are investigating the incident, which occurred Friday when a screener thought he smelled alcohol on the breath of a flight attendant and alerted authorities.

When police responded, they smelled alcohol on Treanor's breath, but not on the flight attendant's, according to the police report.

"All the crew was taken off the plane and given Breathalyzer tests by the police," said FAA spokesman John Clabes.

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http://www.cnn.com/2002/TRAVEL/NEWS/08/13/pilots.drinking/index.html