Today's Doofus is from Germany.
The 65-year-old amateur pilot allegedly tanked up on beer and wine before taking to the skies above the eastern German state of Thuringia in his Cessna light aircraft on Saturday afternoon.
Once airborne, he served himself some more cocktails while at the controls.
Two hours later he was apparently so inebriated that he was unable to read the instruments telling him where the Schoengleida airfield was.
"Come on, I know you're down there," he radioed. "Where the bloody hell have you hidden yourself?"
Control tower staff say he also sang a few songs, cracked a mother-in-law joke and told them to "pull their fingers out as I've got a party to go to".
Fearing instrument failure, the tower scrambled a rescue helicopter stationed at the airfield. It homed in on the man in clear blue skies some 50 miles west of the airport and gave instructions for the pilot to follow it back.
Officials at Schoengleida said the pilot, who has not been named, made a safe landing.
. . .
He was stopped on the way home, breathalysed and found to be nearly four times over the legal limit for driving.
Now he has lost his driving licence - and his pilot's licence.
There's more at the link.
Um . . . well . . . yes, quite! I guess when you're trying to talk to the airfield itself, rather than the controllers, that might just be an indication that you're well tanked up for your flight!
Peter
3 comments:
Doofus is lucky he didn't lose his breathing license as well...
Saw one like that in Minnesota a few years ago. Doofus fortified himself with the better part of a case of beer before mowing his lawn. While driving under a tree, a branch creased his scalp. His wife called the paramedics who treated him. The police officer who followed them wrote a ticket for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.
Well, I've talked to airfields a bit myself---put not over an open mic. If you're not familiar with the terrain and have no navaids, finding a specific air field can be a bit challenging.
That's why I try to alway fly IFR (I Follow Roads). :-)
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