The administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration was arrested over the weekend by Fairfax County police and charged with driving while intoxicated.

Jerome Randolph 'Randy' Babbitt, 65, of Reston, was taken into custody on Saturday. Police said he was seen driving on the wrong side of the road at about 10:30 p.m. in the 3900 block of Old Lee Highway and pulled him over.

Babbitt was the sole person in the vehicle. He wasn’t involved in an accident.

Babbitt was arrested and taken to the local jail. He was placed on a personal recognizance bond.

He was sworn in as the FAA’s 16th administrator on June 1, 2009.

Babbitt is a veteran pilot and is known as an expert aviation and labor issues. He began his aviation career as a pilot, flying 25 years for Eastern Airlines.

Nope. He was arrested Saturday night by Fairfax City police on Old Lee Highway in Fairfax City. No county police involved.

http://fairfaxcity.patch.com/articles/head-of-faa-nabbed-for-alleged-dwi-in-fairfax

Good another asshat off the road. I'm sure he will try to use his status as a point of reducing his charge. I say fuck that, make his ass pay the price. I personally do not tolerate drunk drivers.

I wonder if he played the name game while in custody. Or used the line, "do you even know who I am?"

"driving down the wrong side of Old Lee Highway"

FTW!

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"...your suffering will be legendary even in Hell!"

He is at FAA and probably doesn't need a super secret clearance to do his job. Of course once you are in that type of position, it probably doesn't matter what is on your background check. I've seen people get denied a regular old public trust access because of a DWI.

He is lucky Wrote:
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> He is at FAA and probably doesn't need a super
> secret clearance to do his job. Of course once
> you are in that type of position, it probably
> doesn't matter what is on your background check.
> I've seen people get denied a regular old public
> trust access because of a DWI.

He's not lucky. The FAA frowns heavily on DUI's charges as does any pilot association. He will lose his job and have his pilots license suspended.

He was acting as DD for Sunny Darhele.

__________________________________
That's not a ladybug, that's a cannapiller.

Serves him right.

EdisonIsAlive is right.

I don't think his position will help him. In this case it's just the opposite. He was an airline transport pilot before he was an FAA administrator, so he knows that his agency is unforgiving when it comes to DUI for pilots.

As a pilot, I'd say it's more important than ever that they follow the regular drill with this guy.

Charges Dropped for FAA's Babbitt
Judge says Fairfax officer had no reason to pull over Babbitt, who was charged with driving while intoxicated last year.
By Whitney Rhodes
May 11, 2012
http://herndon.patch.com/articles/charges-dropped-for-faas-babbitt

A judge dismissed drunken driving charges against the former Federal Aviation Administration chief Thursday, according to The Washington Post.

The Post reports that Fairfax City General District Court Judge Ian O’Flaherty dropped the case after watching video of the Fairfax City traffic stop. In it, Reston resident Randy Babbitt makes a left hand turn off of southbound Lee Highway.

"In the process, Babbitt crossed double yellow lines and a northbound lane, but he did not drive on the wrong side of the road as Fairfax City Officer Mike Morris alleged in the criminal complaint."

The judge also considered a breathalyzer reading of .007, just under the state's legal limit. He did not consider later breathalyzer results that put Babbitt over the legal limit.

O'Flaherty ended the case saying that the officer did not have significant reason to pull Babbitt over.

Babbitt's case went public in December. He resigned from the FAA in the aftermath of his arrest.

Randy Babbitt at FAA news conference in September.Credit AP/Alex Brandon
Attachments:

I used to work for the FAA but left before Randy Babbit became Administrator. People I know and whose opinion I value say he was an excellent Administrator. I live in the City of Fairfax, near where this incident occurred and I was particularly saddend when he was arrested and yet another public servant had to leave his office due to personal foibles. So, now it turns out that a judge says these charges should not have been brought. A video shows Mr. Babbit was not driving on the worng side of the road. The test administered by the officer shows that he was not driving under the influence of alcohol. Yet he was arrested. His career ended and we lose a good public servant. Why didn't the officer, his supervisors and the prosescutor see what the judge saw? The City of Fairfax needs to investigate this?

So wait...he crossed the double yellow line, but WASN'T driving on the wrong side of the road?

FattyMcButterpantz Wrote:
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> So wait...he crossed the double yellow line, but
> WASN'T driving on the wrong side of the road?


Yeah. That's confusing. Perhaps just having two tires over the line (or partially over) isn't completely "driving" on the wrong side.

Sounds to me like a case of an over zealous traffic cop making up the "facts." Gosh...all he ended up doing was ruining someone else's life for no apparent reason.

Awes yes, A good lawyer and nothing to worry about now.

... lost his job. Yeah, sure. "Nothing to worry about now." How would you feel?
Cops lie and exaggerate in order to get convictions all the time. Remember that.

sounds more like the FAA dude has some SERIOUS connections than the cop was out and out lying..............

So basically he cut the corner... he turned early, tires cross the double yellow, car technically cuts across the northbound lanes just shy of the actual, official intersection.

Cop hanging out around there trying to pin drivers leaving the bars in the area gets overzealous and pops him. Borderline justified. If the guy had blown a .15 the stop would have been excellent police work.

Guy was just crazy lucky that he blew a .07.

IMO he knew he overstepped the line, hence his resignation. He just happened to get lucky and get out of the legal ramifications.

Gordon Blvd Wrote:
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> sounds more like the FAA dude has some SERIOUS
> connections than the cop was out and out
> lying..............

I wonder who else was at that dinner party. lol

The King Rules Wrote:
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> Gordon Blvd Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > sounds more like the FAA dude has some SERIOUS
> > connections than the cop was out and out
> > lying..............
>
> I wonder who else was at that dinner party. lol


If thathad happened to the average joe I can garONtee he would have been hemmed up nice n guilty.

Bet that judge is flying first class the rest of his life. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

@Fatty - Absolutely...............and if you know the right ppl, there is no "WRONG" side of the road for you, apparently.
@JB - you know that's right.
@The King - $10 says whoever threw the party knows O’Flaherty.
@duhhh- I doubt "luck" had anything to do with it