Every pilot I know is angry as hell about those two morons. Not only did they endanger their passengers and the passengers of other planes (an unpardonable offense in our eyes), they gave a black eye to all of us who fly by the rules.

The news articles kept referring to Florida's legal intoxication limit of 0.08%. That's absolutely meaningless in regard to aviation. The federal aviation regulations have a guideline of "8 hours from bottle to throttle" with the official blood alcohol content limit being 0.04%.

The pertinent reg is FAR 91.17:

"Section 91.17: alcohol or drugs.

(a) No person may act or attempt to act as a crewmember of a civil aircraft --

(1) Within 8 hours after the consumption of any alcoholic beverage;

(2) While under the influence of alcohol;

(3) While using any drug that affects the person's faculties in any way contrary to safety; or

(4) While having .04 percent by weight or more alcohol in the blood."

Under the regs, a pilot can even lose his license for getting busted for DUI in a car. This isn't to say that flying under the influence doesn't happen, it's just to point out that we don't tolerate it or think it's funny.

Every pilot I've talked to about those guys has commented that they're both idiots and assholes. They'll be lucky if they get to fly a cropduster one day. There's no way in hell they'll ever sit foot in an airline cockpit again and it serves them right.