BROOKLYN -- A state lawmaker from Brooklyn plans to propose legislation that would require pilots departing from New York airports to submit to a breathalyzer test before takeoff.
Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, a Democrat, said that the life and safety of pilots and the "flying public" must be protected.
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Recent reports of pilots flying drunk spurred Ortiz to draft his bill.
An American Airlines pilot failed two sobriety tests before a flight from Detroit to Philadelphia and was charged with being drunk in the cockpit. An Alaska Airlines pilot was accused of being drunk when he completed a recent trip from California to Oregon and back.
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Ortiz has previously proposed legislation that would ban restaurants from using salt in foods and another that requires skiers to wear helmets.