Federal rules say airline pilots can't drink even a drop of alcohol in the eight hours before a flight. America West Airlines extends the ban to 12 hours. Thomas Cloyd, a pilot with the airline for 12 years, and Christopher Hughes, a three-year veteran, must have known that. But on July 1, 2002, they not only ignored the rules, they trashed them by showing up for a flight from Miami to Phoenix legally drunk. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge David Young was appalled. On July 21 he sentenced Hughes, 44, to 2½ years for operating a plane while intoxicated, and gave Cloyd, 47, the maximum five after scolding the two men. "You could have crashed into homes or neighborhoods," Young said. "Your actions were outrageous."

Indeed. Following dinner and wine the night before the flight, Cloyd—who had just finished probation for a disorderly conduct conviction after telling police he'd "been drinking a lot"—and Hughes together downed seven 34-oz. glasses and six 16-oz. glasses of beer at a Miami bar. They left just after 5 a.m., then reported for a 10:38 a.m. flight to Phoenix. Airline screeners smelled alcohol on Hughes and alerted the Transportation Security Administration. The pilots, meanwhile, prepared for takeoff with 117 passengers. But as the plane was being towed to the tarmac, police ordered it to return to the gate. Though they didn't take Breathalyzers until 1 p.m., both blew at least twice the .04 allowed by the FAA to fly. Both men were fired and went to rehab, and their lawyers argued they had suffered enough. "He lost his job, he lost his license," attorney James Rubin said of Hughes. "He was made fun of on Leno, Letterman and Howard Stern." Judge Young was unmoved. "You know what the law is," he told the pair. "You know what your obligations were, and you ignored them."

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What They Drank
•A flight attendant testified Cloyd and Hughes had a few sips of champagne early in the evening and split a bottle of wine over dinner with two other crew members.

•They then shot pool for several hours and drank six 16-oz. and seven 34-oz. Sierra Nevada Pale Ales—more than 2.6 gal. (With an alcohol content of 5.6 percent, the ale is roughly 1½ times as potent as regular beer.) They stopped drinking a little before 5 a.m.