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A JetBlue pilot was yanked out of a cockpit minutes before takeoff from an upstate New York airport Wednesday and found to have a blood alcohol level more than four times the legal limit to fly, according to reports.
James Clifton, 52, took a Breathalyzer after cops removed him from the Fort Lauderdale-bound plane out of Buffalo Niagara International Airport, a Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority spokesperson told The Buffalo News.
The Orlando, Fla., resident was allegedly visibly tipsy when he went through security before boarding the plane, leading Transportation Security Administration agents to notify cops, the report said.
His blood alcohol content was 0.17 percent, which is twice the 0.08-percent limit to drive a car and four times the 0.04-percent BAC limit placed on pilots under Federal Aviation Administration rules, according to WIVB-TV
.
The flight, originally scheduled to leave Buffalo at 6: 15 a.m., was delayed four hours and 10 minutes, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.com. It arrived in Florida at 1:10 p.m. Wednesday, according to the site.
A spokesperson for the NFTA didn’t respond to a phone call from The Post on Friday. A JetBlue spokesperson said the pilot has been removed from his duties.
“The safety of JetBlue’s customers and crewmembers is our first priority,” the spokesperson said in an email to The Post. “We adhere to all [Department of Transportation] rules and requirements concerning alcohol at all times and have a very strict zero tolerance internal alcohol policy.
“We are aware of the incident that occurred this morning in Buffalo and are cooperating fully with law enforcement,” the spokesperson added. “We are also conducting our own internal investigation.”
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