
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 23, 1990                   TAG: 9003232823
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MINNEAPOLIS                                 LENGTH: Medium

PILOTS CHARGED WITH FLYING PLANE WHILE INTOXICATED

A Northwest Airlines pilot fell out of his barroom chair and couldn't find his motel the night before he and two others in his cockpit crew were arrested on suspicion of flying while intoxicated, authorities say.

The three, who have been fired by Northwest, were charged Thursday by federal and state officials with operating an aircraft while under the influence of alcohol.

Charges were filed by the U.S. attorney's office in Minneapolis and by North Dakota officials against Capt. Norman Prouse, 51, of Conyers, Ga.; First Officer Robert Kirchner, 35, of Highland Ranch, Colo.; and Second Officer Joseph Balzer, 34, of Antioch, Tenn.

Prouse, Balzer and Kirchner piloted Flight 650 from Fargo, N.D., to Minneapolis with 91 passengers on March 8 and landed safely. However, federal authorities had received a tip that the crew had been drinking the night before the flight and the three were arrested when they got off the plane.

According to an FBI agent's affidavit, Prouse bought 14 rum drinks at a Moorhead bar over about six hours the evening before the flight left Fargo, and another patron bought five additional drinks for him. The affidavit said the other two crew members were served seven pitchers of beer.

Witnesses said Prouse fell out of his chair and had trouble getting up, and he returned to the bar about 20 minutes after leaving, saying he was lost and could not find the nearby motel where the crew was staying, the affidavit said.

Tests taken soon after the three were taken into custody showed they had blood-alcohol levels ranging from 0.06 percent to 0.12 percent, Arnold's office said. Federal regulations prohibit pilots from flying if they have alcohol levels higher than 0.04 percent.

The three pilots are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on the federal felony charges of operating a common carrier while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The maximum penalty is 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

by CNB