Authorities say an airline pilot who seemed to smell like alcohol was making pre-flight checks in the cockpit when police arrested him on a DUI charge.

The pilot, David Allsop, 52, was arrested at Savannah Hilton Head Airport Wednesday morning and has been removed from duty. The flight was delayed about five hours.

A Southwest Airlines pilot was removed from the cockpit ahead of a Wednesday flight from Georgia to Chicago and was booked on a charge of driving under the influence, a source familiar with the incident told CBS News.

A Southwest Airlines pilot was removed from the cockpit and arrested for drunkenness just before a flight from Georgia to Chicago, causing a four-hour delay.

The pilot, a 52-year-old from Bedford who has been a licensed pilot since 2008, was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) after he allegedly drunkenly reported to a flight assignment at the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport in Savannah, Georgia. Authorities said that the pilot reeked of alcohol when he showed up in the cockpit.

A Southwest Airlines pilot was arrested shortly before takeoff on Wednesday. David Paul Allsop, 52, was charged with driving under the influence after the incident in Savannah, Georgia, according to Chatham County Sherriff's Office records.

David Allsop, 52, is charged with driving under the influence, according to Chatham County Sheriff's office jail records.

A Southwest Airlines pilot suspected of being drunk was removed from the cockpit and arrested just before takeoff Wednesday at a Georgia airport, according to airline officials and authorities in the state.