(NECN/NBC News: Tracie Strahan) – A mug shot of Kolbjorn Kristiansen was taken on Friday morning when he was supposed to be en route to LaGuardia airport.
Instead, the 48-year-old American Eagle pilot was cuffed and booked on suspicion of being intoxicated before takeoff at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport.
Linda Singh left the same airport shortly after his arrest.
"That's crazy. That's ridiculous,” Singh said.
Flight 4590 eventually landed at LaGuardia, but without Lristiansen at the helm. Minneapolis police said officers and TSA agents at a checkpoint detected alcohol as they passed him waiting for an elevator.
And as he conducted pre-flight checks, officers boarded his flight, gave him a breathalyzer test and placed him under arrest.
Passengers hadn't gotten on board when authorities took the pilot off.
"I'm glad I wasn't on that flight,” Singh said.
Twitter users talking about the incident received responses directly from American Airlines, saying they were conducting a full internal investigation, going on to report, "The American Eagle pilot is withheld from service pending the outcome".
