Pilot suspected of drinking kept off flight from Neb. to Milw.

OMAHA (AP) -- An apparently intoxicated airline pilot was stopped at Omaha's airport on Thursday before boarding a commercial flight to Milwaukee, causing a nearly two-hour delay while the airline brought in someone else to fly the plane.

Frontier Airlines spokeswoman Lindsey Carpenter said in an email that the airline was investigating allegations that a pilot was impaired and that the flight was delayed "because of concern about the condition of a scheduled crew member'' who hadn't reported for it. "Frontier and Chautauqua have a zero-tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol,'' she said, referring to Chautauqua Airlines, which operates the Omaha service to Milwaukee.

She said the airline wouldn't comment in further detail because it was a personnel matter.

Flight 1894 was to have taken off at 6 a.m. carrying 29 passengers, three crew and two pilots. The plane, an Embraer 145, landed in Milwaukee around 9:30 a.m.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory, in Chicago, said Frontier reported the incident to the agency, as required. She declined to provide a copy of the report to The Associated Press, saying the news outlet would have to file a Freedom of Information Act request for it.

It's unclear whether the pilot was drunk, had taken illegal drugs or was impaired by prescription medication. Initial reports from the airport said the pilot appeared drunk.

Carpenter did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking clarification.