Southwest Airlines: Pilot, 52, arrested shortly before flight was ready to take off after showing up to work drunk

New Hampshire resident David Allsop, 52, was arrested at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport at around 7am on Wednesday (15 January), according to the Chatham County Sheriff's Office. He was charged with driving under the influence.

The Southwest Airlines pilot was arrested shortly before take-off in Georgia after he allegedly showed up to work intoxicated, police say. Allsop was apprehended just before Southwest Flight 3772, bound for Chicago, was about to leave Georgia. It departed shortly before 11am, nearly four hours after it was scheduled to take-off.

Southwest told Fox News Digital that it was looking into the incident and that Allsop, whose LinkedIn profile states that he is a pilot, has been "removed from duty." The airline said: "We're aware of a situation involving an Employee on Flight 3772 this morning from Savannah. The employee has been removed from duty."

Southwest added that the flight's passengers were accommodated onto other flights while Flight 3772 remained grounded. A spokesperson added: "Customers were accommodated on other flights, and we apologize for the disruption to their travel plans. There's nothing more important to Southwest than the safety of our employees and customers."

Last May, Japan Airlines grounded a flight from Dallas to Tokyo after it was discovered that a pilot drank excessively the night before. Although the pilot did not violate the internal guidelines against drinking within 12 hours of departure, Japan Airlines cancelled the flight in order to "assess the captain's physical and mental well-being."