La Guardia-Bound Pilot Arrested on Alcohol Charge The pilot, whose name was not immediately released, was in the cockpit of American Eagle Flight 4590 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport doing a preflight check when "a witness smelled what appeared to be alcohol," said Patrick Hogan, a spokesman for the airport. The pilot was arrested at 6:19 a.m. local time, a minute before the flight's scheduled departure time, Mr. Hogan said. The pilot, whose blood alcohol exceeded the legal limit of 0.04 percent, was taken to a hospital for a blood test, Mr. Hogan said. American Eagle, an affiliate of American Airlines, said that the pilot was based at La Guardia but declined to offer more details other than to say: American Eagle has a well-established substance abuse policy that is designed to put the safety of our customers and employees first. We are cooperating with authorities and conducting a full internal investigation. The pilot will be withheld from service pending the outcome of the investigation. The flight took off with a different pilot, Mr. Hogan said, and landed at La Guardia at 12:11 p.m., about three hours behind schedule.