Join Lyle Prouse, author of the autobiography, Final Approach: Northwest Airlines 650 Tragedy and Triumph, as he tours the blogosphere August 6 – 24 on his first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!
This is the story of the first airline pilot ever arrested and sent to prison for flying under the influence. He was fired by his airline, stripped of his FAA licenses, tried, convicted, and sent to Federal prison. This was a first. It had never occurred before.
Lyle Prouse came from a WWII housing project in Kansas and an alcoholic family where both parents died as a result of alcoholism. He rose through the ranks of the United States Marine Corps from private to captain, from an infantryman to a fighter pilot. He made his way to the pinnacle of commercial aviation, airline captain…then lost it all.
Today he is a recovering alcoholic with nearly twenty-two years sobriety. This story describes his rise from the ashes of complete destruction from which he was never to fly again. It is full of miracles which defy all manner of odds.
In a long and arduous journey, he eventually regained his FAA licenses. He never fought his termination; he considered it fair and appropriate.
Miraculously, after nearly four years, the President/CEO of his airline personally reinstated him to full flight despite the adverse publicity and embarrassment.
In effect, the President/CEO gambled his own career by taking such a risk on a convicted felon and publicly acknowledged alcoholic pilot.
In another stunning event, the judge who tried, sentenced, and sent him to prison watched his journey and reappeared eight years after the trial. He became the driving force behind a Presidential pardon although he’d never supported a petition for pardon in all his years on the bench.
Lyle retired honorably as a 747 captain for the airline he’d so horribly embarrassed and disgraced. He lives with his wife of nearly forty-nine years and has five grandchildren.
He continues to work with all the major airlines in their alcohol programs. He is also active in his Native American community, and he provides hope to those struggling with the disease of alcoholism, no matter who they are or where they are.
294 pages
Lyle Prouse was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1938. He is part Comanche and grew up in an alcoholic home in a World War II housing project. He was active in his Native American community. After graduating from High School in Wichita, Lyle joined the Marines as a private but made the rare transition from enlisted to officer grade and ultimately Captain, a jet fighter pilot flying combat missions in Vietnam.
After his discharge from the Corps, Lyle became an airline captain for Northwest Airlines and flew for nearly 22 years before the same alcoholism that killed his parents almost destroyed his life. He was the first commercial pilot ever arrested and sent to prison for flying drunk.
The blistering media coverage was relentless as he was fired, stripped of all flying certificates, tried, convicted, and sent to Federal prison for sixteen months. The trial judge added sanctions on top of the conviction to guarantee he would never fly again. In spite of all the seemingly impossible obstacles, Lyle got sober, experienced many breathtaking miracles, returned to Northwest Airlines and retired as a 747 captain. In January of 2001 he received a full Presidential pardon from then President Bill Clinton.
Today, Lyle is a husband, father, and grandfather. He has been sober over twenty-one years and has devoted his life to helping others overcome alcoholism. He is still flying and has participated with all the major airlines in their ongoing alcohol programs. He remains active in Native American sobriety movements.
His latest book is Final Approach: Northwest Airline Flight 650 Tragedy and Triumph.
You can visit his website at www.lyleprouse.com.
It is so refreshing to read a book about a man who did wrong and knows it and fully accepts the responsibility of his actions. Final Approach is a book about the author Lyle Prouse and his fight with alcoholism and how he overcomes it. He tells of his early life with alcoholic parents, his years in the service in Vietnam, his days of alcohol abuse. Because of his alcoholism he loses one of the things that he cherishes the most, his pilot license. Mr. Prouse tells his story in a no nonsense manner, never laying blame on anyone else's doorstep but his own. He spends time in prison and did what he could for his fellow prisoners, such as start a program for alcoholics in prison. He works his way back up to regain his flying license back, get a presidential pardon and finally gets reinstated with Northwest Airlines.
I admire Mr. Prouse for his sacrifices and hard work and I especially commend his wife for sticking it out through many years of hardship due to her husbands actions. I would recommend this book be read by people and their families who encounter the same issues but mainly for anyone to read so that they can understand a bit what can happen when an addiction takes hold of a person. I give it 5 stars.
I received a copy of this book for review and was not monetarily compensated for my review..
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