Delta Air Lines pilot charged with alcohol violation

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A Delta Air Lines pilot from Minnesota was charged Friday with operating an aircraft under the influence of alcohol.

Tests confirmed that 37-year-old Gabriel Schroeder, of Rosemont, had a blood alcohol level between 0.04% and 0.08% when detectives arrested him on a plane at the Minneapolis airport just as it started boarding for a flight to San Diego on July 20, according to the criminal complaint.

The limit set by the Federal Aviation Administration is 0.04%, which is half the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.

Schroder's first court date is Nov. 27. Court records don't list an attorney who could comment for him.

According to the complaint, Schroeder told detectives that he'd had one beer and three vodka drinks the night before. He also admitted discarding an unopened vodka bottle that investigators found in an airport bathroom after he saw that security screening for crews had been stepped up.

Delta removed Schroder from flying after his arrest.