KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – It’s been more than 19 years since Joseph Balzer and two others became the first professional pilots convicted on federal charges of flying passengers across state lines under the influence of alcohol.

Balzer, who now lives in Wears Valley, was 35 years old at the time of the incident.

It happened on March 8th, 1990. He had spent the previous night at a bar called the “Speak Easy” in Moorhead, North Dakota with the two other members of his flight crew.

Court testimony revealed none of the three pilots received more than five and a half hours of sleep before arriving at Hector International Airport for their 6:25 AM flight. Balzer served as the flight engineer, and with freezing drizzle and rain, took off in a Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 with 91 passengers aboard.

At some point that morning, a bar patron from the previous night called the Federal Aviation Administration.

"They called the 24 hour hot line and said there was a Northwest pilot drinking into the early morning hours and they were really concerned because they had a relative flying the next day," said Balzer.

All three pilots were taken into custody following their hour long flight to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Two hours later they were given blood alcohol tests. Balzer’s blood alcohol content was 0.08, double the FAA’s limit of 0.04 for pilots.

Northwest promptly fired all three pilots and their licenses were suspected by the FAA. Five months later, Balzer convicted and went on to spend the next year locked up at a federal penitentiary in Atlanta.

Following his release, the life long aviator had a difficult time finding a job. After years of rejection, he turned to American Airlines. It was just before Christmas 1998 when he traveled to the airline’s corporate offices and personally turned in his application.

"I walked in and told them, ‘I went to prison for flying a commercial airliner under influence of alcohol back in 1990,’ he said. “I also said, ‘all my licenses were revoked and I was fired, but I've got to attach my heart to my application.’"

American accepted his application, putting him back in the cockpit of passenger jets for the first time in eight years.

Today he’s accumulated more than 15,000 hours of flight experience. He is based out of LaGuardia Airport in New York City, where he commutes to daily from his Sevier County home. After the work day he returns home to his wife and two children.

Balzer has also been sober for 19 years and recently published a book about his arrest, conviction and return to the cockpit.
"I wrote this story so that maybe people can read my story and maybe they can get an education," he said.

The name of Balzer's book is "Flying Drunk.” It’s published by Savas Beatie LLC and due to be released on July 17th, 2009. You can buy a copy at bookstores or by visiting Balzer’s website through the link below.