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Among the numerous businesses and bars that provide free rides for intoxicated patrons, Kirtland Air Force Base offers a service that could have taken Airman Micah Henry home safely.

Instead, Henry, 23, told Albuquerque police he had six or more drinks before getting behind the wheel of his sport utility vehicle.

Kirtland officials said he did not call for a ride.

Witnesses told police he was driving 80 to 100 mph down Fourth Street Northwest when he ran a red light at Menaul Boulevard and broadsided a pickup truck about 1:40 a.m. Tuesday.

The crash killed both people in the pickup, driver Josephine Laweka, 47, of Cochiti Pueblo and passenger Marvin Garcia, 44, of Santa Fe.

Henry, whose blood-alcohol content was twice the legal limit, according to police, was not hurt. He was arraigned Wednesday on two counts of vehicular homicide.

His bail was raised Wednesday to $200,000.

Tuesday's fatal incident is the second alcohol-related crash within a year involving Kirtland personnel. In February, police say Airman Danielle Best was driving drunk when she drove her pickup truck the wrong way on I-25 and slammed head-on into a southbound car. Both drivers were critically injured.

Kirtland officials say the Air Force treats drunken driving as a serious issue and uses a number of methods to educate and promote the dangers of driving while intoxicated.

The base also provides a free ride service that picks up intoxicated base personnel and takes them home, whether they live on or off the base.

"We talk about this endlessly, and that's why it's an embarrassment when this happens," said Col. Robert Suminsby, 377th air base wing commander at Kirtland.

Kirtland Against Drunk Driving, the free ride service, is manned by a team of five airmen 9 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. every Friday and Saturday and on holidays.

The service, which began in 2005, was available New Year's Eve and provided rides for two airmen, Kirtland officials say.

The program gave 574 airmen rides home in 2007, Suminsby said.

But Suminsby said the Air Force promotes other programs that encourage airmen to drink responsibly.

"That's really the safety net," he said of the ride program. "That's a chance to call and get a free ride home."

Another method the Air Force suggests to base personnel is the use of buddy systems, or wingmen.

A wingman is someone who can be called at 2 a.m. for anything, from picking up a buddy at a bar to help fixing a flat tire, Suminsby said.

It's still not clear whether Henry was drinking with other airmen from Kirtland on Tuesday, police said.

Along with prevention programs, Kirtland airmen face serious ramifications for drinking and driving on base, Suminsby said.

Kirtland had five cases of drunken driving on its base last year, he said. Four of the cases resulted in reduction in rank, and in the past some airmen have been discharged, Suminsby said.

Because Tuesday's crash happened off the base, the Air Force will stay out of the investigation, he said.

Albuquerque police don't know where Henry was drinking the night of the accident, but the state Department of Public Safety says it is looking into whether he might have been overserved at a bar.

Terry Huertaz, director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving New Mexico, said Kirtland has invited her organization to speak to its airmen a number of times and has hosted a panel of victims who have been affected by a drunken driving wreck.

"The Air Force needs to keep doing what it's doing - they need to keep educating," Huertaz said. "People need to know that if they are going to drink and drive, there are consequences."