Virgin Pilot arrested for being unfit to fly

[Katys Grandad]

Innocent until proved guilty of course but, if true, this is unforgiveable.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6516827.stm

[CarolAnn]

Cripes..if true..glad we are flying AFTER he has been taken off flying[msnscared]

[pieman790]

I would wait to hear the full facts. An American Airlines pilot was found not gulity recently of similar charges in realtion to an incident at Manchester Airport.

[Robert5988]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote: would wait to hear the full facts. An American Airlines pilot was found not gulity recently of similar charges in realtion to an incident at Manchester Airport.[/quote]

The AA pilot was without doubt drunk(he was tested). He got off because he siad he was at the airport(in uniform) to tell the Capt he was unfit to fly. - This despite the Capt having spoken to him in the hotel to get him out of bed.

[Katys Grandad]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by pieman790
I would wait to hear the full facts. An American Airlines pilot was found not gulity recently of similar charges in realtion to an incident at Manchester Airport.
[/quote]

Of course we should wait to hear the full facts but it doesn't look good. It is absolutely clear that he was tested at the police station and released on bail to appear in court. I think we can reasonably assume the test was positive.

The AA pilot was a very lucky man and never denied he was over the limit (8 times over as I recall).

[pieman790]

If he has been released on Police bail then i am sure the results must be quite close to the legal limit/border line otherwise they would they have not charged him straight away and put him before a court.
Most if not all pilots would not run the risk of drinking before a flight, because they would loose their license/job and i am sure this is a very isolated incident.

[CCollins]

whoops - I hope that I never get flown by a drunk pilot!

I think it unlikely he was 'drunk' as it was his home base and its rare for this to happen where as away from base late night drinking is common place and more likely.

I think its more likely he had a few the night before and unfortunately was still over the limit and more likely he was unaware. The rules are to stop drinking eight hours before a flight but if you have a few it is possible even if you do stop eight hours before that you could still be over.

I can tell you that most of us will have flown with one of the flight crew slightly over the limit as it is the culture of flying (that does not make it OK though).

Virgin have this to say..........

Virgin Atlantic has apologised for the fact that one of its pilots was arrested just before getting on a plane on Saturday.

The airline said the pilot was due to fly out of Heathrow but was arrested on suspicion of being over the alcohol limit.

A replacement for him was found and the flight took off an hour late.

Virgin apologised for the incident and said the airline was also investigating the matter.


"The safety and security of its passengers and crew is Virgin Atlantic's top priority", it said.

The pilot of a plane bound for the US was arrested onboard on suspicion of being over the alcohol limit, police said.

The legal limit for pilots, navigators, flight engineers and cabin crew on flights is 9 microgrammes of alcohol in breath, compared to 35 microgrammes for motorists.

The pilot was bailed until next month, a police spokeswoman reported.

[Katys Grandad]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by pieman790
If he has been released on Police bail then i am sure the results must be quite close to the legal limit/border line otherwise they would they have not charged him straight away and put him before a court.
[/quote]

The AA pilot was 8 TIMES over the limit and he was also bailed. I'm not sure that assumption is valid.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by pieman790
If he has been released on Police bail then i am sure the results must be quite close to the legal limit/border line otherwise they would they have not charged him straight away and put him before a court.
Most if not all pilots would not run the risk of drinking before a flight, because they would loose their license/job and i am sure this is a very isolated incident.
[/quote]

Sorry, I have to disagree on both counts (although I do think he is probably close to the legal limit) he would not be always be put before the court any ealier. He will of course be grounded until the court case is over.

Secondly drinking is part of the culture when you fly, my brother in law was a BA Captain and he and all his pilot friends all drunk a lot and they would drink the night before a flight (but stop at the 8 hour rule mark as I posted earlier) so this is more likely what this chap did too. If he is found to be very close to the legal limit then I actually feel sorry for him in a way.

I am not condoning drinking and flying in any way though.