The pilot wasn’t even aware! It was amongst a passenger’s groceries…
In April 2012, Jouppi was preparing to fly a passenger from Fairbanks to a remote village, Beaver, where alcohol was banned. The passenger had packed beer with other groceries in her luggage. State Police troopers searched Jouppi’s plane before it departed and spotted a six-pack of Budweiser in a shopping bag. This article could go in many communities but I figured this one suits.
What’s especially stupid about this to me is that I think the effort of keeping alcohol out of the dry community should be on that community rather than the pilot. Why should the pilot become the village’s law enforcement?
If this were hard drugs that are already illegal at the federal level, fine; but that’s a totally different discussion.
Airplanes aren’t the only way to transport illegal goods. Is my Uber driver supposed to frisk me to check if I’m smuggling coke around town? They gonna shut down Amtrak if I try to bring a joint across state lines?
Right, my thinking is along those lines. I just really don’t think it’s the pilot’s responsibility at all. Have you ever seen a pilot rifling through each and every passenger’s luggage while boarding commercial aircraft?
I mean, TSA does, but they’re searching through thousands of people a day at each major airport. And even though this small island in the middle of nowhere clearly doesn’t have their own TSA checkpoints, I agree with you that it still shouldn’t be the pilot’s responsibility. Ignoring the legality for a minute, let’s say he did choose to check and upon finding (Jesus Christ) a six pack of beer, he decided to refuse service to the passenger. Now they’re both kinda screwed/stranded if the guy doesn’t decide to just throw them away or start chugging