JetBlue Pilot Arrested For Alleged Heroin Possession

REUTERS/Lucas JacksonA man talks on his cell phone while looking at a JetBlue Airways plane at LaGuardia Airport in New York April 5, 2012.

A JetBlue pilot was arrested in Boston on Sunday for alleged heroin possession during a police investigation into drug dealing near Boston Common, The Boston Globe reports.

Officers were watching an area of Boylston Street where they believed drug deals were going on, and they spotted 42-year-old John Manwaring, who told police he is a pilot for JetBlue and just arrived in the city. He is from Maitland, Florida.

Manwaring was temporarily "removed from duty" when JetBlue learned of the arrest, but the airline would not tell the Globe when he was last in the cockpit of a JetBlue plane or whether he was scheduled to fly a plane on Monday.

The company released this statement to the newspaper: "All pilots are drug tested; all crewmembers must receive a negative drug test before they are offered employment with JetBlue and we adhere to the FAA approved random drug and alcohol testing program."

A 31-year-old woman who was with Manwaring was also arrested.

Manwaring has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Read the full story at the Globe >