A drunk pilot for Japan Airlines (JAL) has been arrested shortly before a flight from London to Tokyo.
He had almost ten times the permitted limit for pilots in the UK.
According to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, the driver driving the crew to the airport on Sunday noticed that the pilot smelled of alcohol, reports the BBC. Police were alerted and a breathalyzer test 50 minutes before takeoff showed that the 42-year-old pilot had 189 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.
The legal limit for pilots is 20 milligrams. For comparison, the drink-drive limit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 80 milligrams.
The pilot pleaded guilty on Thursday to exceeding the alcohol limit. He is being held in custody awaiting sentencing on November 29.
In a statement, JAL apologizes and promises to ”implement immediate measures” to prevent this from happening again.
Source: TT
