. >> reporter: the wayne county prosecutor says the pilot, john francis mcguire, failed two breathalyzertests on saturday. >> i believe i was speechless. that something like that could happen. and again that he could get that close to the aircraft. >> reporter: he was questioned and investigated before being charged with a misdemeanor. when reached by abc, a family member declined to comment on the charges. among the flyers, this group of spring breakers contemplating consequences far worse than delayed beach time. >> you're drunk. you don't really consider like the consequences of that. of our lives. which sucks. >> reporter: under the faa's bottle to throttle rule, a pilot must wait eight hours after drinking before operating an aircraft. the legal limit for airplane pilots is .04. half of that for drivers. but still enough to impair judgment. pilots are subject to random testing. >> you know as a commercial airline pilot that if you show up with anything in your blood, whether it's drugs or alcohol, your chances of being caught are extremely high. >> reporter: but plenty of pilots are

detroit to philadelphia because he was allegedly drunk has been identified as 50-year-old john francis mcguire and he is from chadds ford. "action news" reporter chad pradelli is live at philadelphia international airport tonight. chad, we are learning more about the incident early saturday morning. >> reporter: yeah, jim, we have yet to hear from the pilot himself, john mcguire but what authorities say on saturday morning, mcguire was set to pilot a plane from detroit metropolitan airport to philadelphia international airport while drunk. as police detained john mcguire off of the american airlines flight he was prepared to fly while allegedly intoxicated, passengers knew something was amiss. initially they were told there was a problem with the pilot's seat. >> i was getting a little nervous and i guess there was a good reason why. >> i saw them actually taking the pilot around the side of the car and handcuffing him. >> reporter: maguire may have taken flight from detroit to philadelphia if not for an alert t.s.a. agent. the agent smelled what he thought was alcohol on maguire. police respo

detroit to philadelphia because he was allegedly drunk has been identified as 50-year-old john francis mcguirehadds ford. "action news" reporter chad pradelli is live at philadelphia international airport tonight. chad, we are learning more about the incident early saturday morning. >> reporter: yeah, jim, we have yet to hear from the pilot himself, john mcguire