Southwest Airlines Pilot Arrested, Charged with DUI Before Takeoff: Reports

A Southwest Airlines flight was delayed on Wednesday, Jan. 15, after its pilot was reportedly arrested and charged with DUI before takeoff at a Georgia airport.

Southwest Airlines, in a statement provided to multiple outlets including NBC News and ABC affiliate WLS, confirmed that it was aware of a “situation” involving an employee on flight 3772 from Savannah’s Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. The employee had since been “removed from duty,” per the statement.

“Customers were accommodated on other flights, and we apologize for the disruption to their travel plans,” the statement, also shared with ABC affiliate WJCL, read. “There’s nothing more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Employees and Customers.”

According to flight records, flight 3772 — which was headed from Savannah to Chicago Midway International Airport on Jan. 15 — was delayed nearly five hours. It left Savannah at 10:56 a.m. local time and landed in Chicago at 12:08 local time.

Pilot David Paul Allsop, as reported by outlets including WJCL and WLS, was arrested on Wednesday morning. Per arrest records from the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office, Allsop, 52, was charged with driving under the influence and was taken into custody at the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. He was being held on a $3,500 bond, per the CCSO, with WJCL reporting that he was released after posting bond.

A spokesperson for Southwest did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment on Thursday. It was not clear if Allsop had an attorney.

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According to NBC News, which cited a source, an officer for the Transportation Security Administration had smelled alcohol on the pilot and alerted authorities.

A source told CBS News that the pilot may have shown other signs of intoxication and was removed from the cockpit. NBC News shared an image of a police officer on the Southwest plane.

As CBS News notes, pilots are prohibited from “using alcohol while on duty or from flying, or attempting to fly, an aircraft within eight hours of consuming alcohol or if they have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.04% or greater,” according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.

“Any factor that impairs the pilot’s ability to perform the required tasks during the operation of an aircraft is an invitation for disaster,” the FAA statement read. “The use of alcohol is a significant self-imposed stress factor that should be eliminated from the cockpit. The ability to do so is strictly within the pilot’s control.”

Back in March 2024, a Delta Airlines pilot was sentenced to ten months in jail after reporting for duty intoxicated at Scotland’s Edinburgh Airport.

At the time, a Delta spokesperson told PEOPLE that the airline was “aware of this incident and removed the pilot from service while conducting a thorough investigation in coordination with Scottish authorities.”