Flying Drunk: The True Story of a Northwest Airlines Flight, Three Drunk Pilots, and One Man's Fight for Redemption

By Joseph Balzer

Book Overview

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.Northwest Airlines, alcoholism

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.

About the Author: Joe Balzer is a pilot for American Airlines with more than 15,000 hours of flight experience. He has a Master's Degree in Aerospace Education and is also an inspirational speaker, traveling around the country speaking to pilots and other groups on the dangers of alcohol and other addictions, bringing his audience to laughter and tears with his powerful message of hope. Joe lives in Tennessee with his wife Deborah and their two children. Flying Drunk is his first book.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1932714715
• ISBN13: 9781932714715
• Release Date: July 2009
• Publisher: Savas Beatie
• Length: 225 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Flying Drunk

A must read! A startling account of an airline pilot's emotional and professional spiral and the tenacity to fight for all that was lost.

Redeption...

I had heard about this story as well when it happened and was lucky enough to meet the Balzer family in 1998. The book blew me away- not so much an aviation story but one of perseverance, perspective, faith, and family. I truly enjoyed the story immensely. 5 Stars.

A must read for those in recovery

After a really lousy week and allowing my personal chaos to reel out of control, I picked up Joe Balzer's book. I finished the book the next day and couldn't put it down. I found the story to be an easy read and magnetic. For those in recovery, the experience, strength and hope of Joe Balzer comes through in a powerful way. It gives all of us in recovery the hope that we seek daily. It is so encouraging to know that things can be as bad as Joe Balzer's journey, and yet, he has built himself a successful (and sober) life by never giving up and relying on his Higher Power. Kudos to you Joe! Thanks for helping me to remember to take care of myself and do it one day at a time.

Flying Drunk

I read this book through in a couple of nights and it kept my attention as I discovered what this man went through during his childhood and adulthood fighting the disease of alcoholism. He had an incredible memory of what happened to him during his year in federal prison and I was moved several times by his struggles and the struggles of his wife and family during his trial and incarceration. It is an awesome book about a pilot who was raised by an alcoholic father, worked his way through pilot training and just as he was finishing his first year with Northwest Airlines, he made a detrimental decision to step into the cockpit of his plane and fly under the influence of alcohol. He was convicted and served a year in federal prison, fought his way back to a normal life and now has been flying with American Airlines for 10 years. He's now celebrating his 19th year of sobriety. I recommend this book to everyone.

Flying Drunk Soars

The enduringly exhilarating dynamics of the aviation industry have produced a number of books, but none quite like Flying Drunk, the new and deeply personal memoir by one of the industry's most infamous commercial pilots. Pilot-flight engineer Joseph Balzer made history in March 1990 when he was arrested along with the rest of his cockpit crew for flying a Northwest passenger jet while under the influence of alcohol. Images and stories of the "drunken pilots" appeared in major news outlets around the world (including The New York Times, Newsweek, and Time). The stunned (and justifiably angry) American public watched as Joe lost his pilot's license, faced federal felony charges, and hit rock bottom with a paid ticket, courtesy of the American taxpayers, to prison. The sensationalist news story faded as quickly as it had exploded, but Joe Balzer's journey was barely out of the starting block. Written with an intimate and chatty prose, Joe reveals himself completely and with humility. Indeed, he leaves out few details of his difficult story, beginning with his earliest recollections about living in a dysfunctional alcoholic family. The fallen and resurrected pilot offers a riveting look inside the world of alcoholics, their families, and his own state of mind throughout the recovery process. Readers will join Joe's struggle early, realizing well before the protagonist that his desire to be a pilot and consume large quantities of alcohol was a potentially fatal mixture. His experiences with familial separation and his harrowing and nearly deadly time spent in the federal prison system (and it was anything but the Club Fed we hear so much about) provide the most gripping sections of his memoir. At absolute rock bottom, Joe decides he must and will fly again. Because that seems such a hopeless pipedream, his ultimate redemption and success (accepting a pilot position with American Airlines) is that much sweeter and offers a good lesson for others who are experiencing problems in their lives. If Joe can do it . . . At once heartbreaking and uplifting, Balzer's Flying Drunk offers a message of hope and the endurance of the human spirit that is not easily forgotten. It may well take its place on the literary shelves as a personal classic about the aviation world's favorite comeback kid. For those of you interested in learning more about Joe Balzer, there are a number of articles and media interviews with him posted on the Flying Drunk website here [...]