Why shouldn’t Florida be able to fine or jail two pilots who could have killed more than 124 people?

Almost every day we hear someone declare “there oughta be a law” concerning some issue. Often, such laws already exist if someone cares to check.

But if Florida lacks the legal wherewithal to prosecute a couple of drunken airline pilots, it should remedy the situation forthwith, no matter what other sources do.

From Miami comes an Associated Press dispatch quoting a federal judge that the state cannot prosecute two America West pilots who were fired for taking the controls of their jetliner after a night of heavy drinking.

Judge Patricia Seitz said not only must the state drop charges of drunken operation of a jet against pilot Thomas Cloyd, 45, and co-pilot Christopher Hughes, 42, but the state cannot take any other action based on their arrests in July of 2002.

The pilots’ blood-alcohol results were above the state drunkenness standard of 0.08 percent but below the federal criminal standard of 0.10 percent. Judge Seitz said the federal government has come to dominate the field of commercial aviation and that leaves no room for the state unless there is a loss of life, injury or damage. Anybody mention steps for prevention?

That oversight should be remedied as quickly as possible by the state, which plans to appeal the case but has little hope of success.

The pilots were at the controls when their Airbus carrying 124 passengers was pushed away from the gate for a Miami-Phoenix flight. At the same time, security guards were reporting that the men smelled of alcohol, so the plane was called back to the gate.

The pilots were stripped of their commercial licenses but they still are guilty of endangering 124 passengers and the rest of their crew. The state of Florida should have the right to prosecute.

All this smacks of inadequate or foolish jurisprudence that lets drunken motor vehicle operators slip through the cracks of the system time after time until lives are lost, injuries occur and financial losses accrue.