--- title: JetBlue Pilot Charged for Flying While Drunk description: Dennis Murphy, Jr. was charged this week after failing a random post-flight breathalyzer last April canonical: https://time.com/4310773/jetblue-pilot-drunk/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-28T13:42:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:06:19.579Z article:section: U.S. og:title: JetBlue Pilot Charged for Flying While Drunk og:description: He blamed his .11 blood alcohol context on chewing gum og:url: https://time.com/4310773/jetblue-pilot-drunk/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: JetBlue Pilot Charged for Flying While Drunk twitter:description: He blamed his .11 blood alcohol context on chewing gum twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # JetBlue Pilot Charged for Flying While Drunk  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Apr 28, 2016 1:42 PM CUT  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Apr 28, 2016 1:42 PM CUT When the JetBlue pilot failed a post-flight breathalyzer last year, he tried to blame his .11 blood alcohol content on his gum. Unsurprisingly, [he was charged](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/jetblue-pilot-charged-drunken-flying-return-trip-jfk-article-1.2616158 "undefined") with operating the plane while drunk in New York on Wednesday. Dennis Murphy, Jr. failed the breathalyzer after he flew a plane with 151 passengers from Orlando to New York’s JFK Airport last April, the New York _Daily News_ reports. Murphy resigned from JetBlue before he could face internal punishment, but commercial pilots can face federal charges when they have over .10% blood alcohol content. FAA regulations prohibit pilots from flying with more than .04% blood alcohol. He was released on a bond set at $50,000, and he faces at most 15 years in prison. His co-pilot told authorities Murphy had been drinking an unknown liquid from a cup before and during the flight. \[[_Daily News_](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/jetblue-pilot-charged-drunken-flying-return-trip-jfk-article-1.2616158 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4310773/jetblue-pilot-drunk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4310773/jetblue-pilot-drunk/"},"headline":"JetBlue Pilot Charged for Flying While Drunk","datePublished":"2016-04-28T13:42:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:06:19.579Z","description":"Dennis Murphy, Jr. was charged this week after failing a breathalyzer last April and blaming his gum","url":"https://time.com/4310773/jetblue-pilot-drunk/","keywords":["Crime","Travel"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4310773/jetblue-pilot-drunk/","name":"JetBlue Pilot Charged for Flying While Drunk"}}]}] ```