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The True Story Of A Northwest Airlines Flight, Three Drunk Pilots, And One Man's Fight For Redemption
Savas Beatie
July 2009
On Sale: July 1, 2009
240 pages ISBN: 1932714715 EAN: 9781932714715 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Memoir
March 8, 1990: An intoxicated three-man crew, including
Flight Engineer Joseph Balzer, fly a Northwest Airlines
Boeing 727 with 91 passengers aboard from Fargo, North
Dakota to Minneapolis, Minnesota. July 25, 1990: All three pilots stand trial for flying a
commercial airliner while under the influence of alcohol;
all three are convicted and sent to federal prison. July 26, 1990 - present: Joe Balzer fights for redemption
and to regain all that he has lost. Flying Drunk is his story. Since he was a young boy, Joe Balzer dreamed of flying. He
pursued his goal with a vigorous passion and earned his
pilot licenses, piling up hours of flight time with a wide
variety of planes and jets with one overarching goal: to one
day fly for a major airline. But Joe had a problem. He was
an alcoholic and refused to admit to himself that he had a
problem. His alcoholism caught up with him in March 1990, when Joe
was arrested with two other pilots for flying a commercial
airliner while under the influence of alcohol. His world
began crumbling around him and his new marriage faced the
ultimate test. He lost his promising career and his dignity.
Every major media outlet, including The New York Times,
Newsweek, and Time Magazine covered the shocking story for
the stunned American flying public. The trial that followed
drained Joe's life's savings and federal prison nearly broke
him. Flying Drunk is Joe's bittersweet and thoroughly
chilling memoir of his twisted journey to a Federal
courtroom, his time in the notorious Federal penitentiary
system in Atlanta, and his struggle to recapture all that he
held dear. Today, Joe is a recovering alcoholic, celebrating more than
nineteen years of sobriety. The long road back from
perdition led him to American Airlines, where good people
and a great organization recognized a talented pilot who had
cleaned up his act and was ready to fly again, safely. Flying Drunk is an incredible journey of the human spirit,
from childhood to hell, and back again. Everyone should read
and heed its message of hope and redemption. No one who does
will ever forget it.
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