Me too. In cases like this, I always wonder, what were they thinking?

I thought this article was going to be about Mark & I 

Not that I'm justifying what they did, because it was clearly in violation of FARs, but they consumed the alcohol the evening prior to the flight. 

The story is being played out as though they'd been doing kegstands in the terminal while they waited for their plane to come in...

Still wrong, still a crime...but at least they got nabbed before the plane took off.

It really makes you wonder what goes through their minds.  Throw away a lifetime of commitment, money and training and a dream job for an all-nighter.  And both of them were intoxicated.  It's a good thing they caught them, two drunk pilots flying a commercial jet is an imminent threat to the lives of everyone.

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Personally I think it should be longer. How long the effects of alcohol remains in your system can vary considerably depending on your metabolism, how much you drink & the time taken to consume it among other things. I don't know what it's like now but some years ago it was not unusual for airline captains to drink heavily on a regular basis. The captain was god in those days & the crew covered up for him, it was usually him. I'm not saying they were all like it but many senior captains of major airlines certainly were. I'm pleased that they finally seem to be cracking down on it athough, as I remarked earlier, this case has taken 3 years to come to court.

Hey, if I can't go Scuba Diving for 24 hours before flying, then you can't drink!  Fair is fair... 

It is really expensive at bars (pubs), but they must have been drinking fancy imports, because I cant even imagine what beer would cost $8.00 each.