Tue, Oct 21, 2008
Suspected Of Being Intoxicated Prior To Flight
A 44-year-old United Airlines pilot has some explaining to do,
after he was removed from the cockpit of a Boeing 777 at London
Heathrow Sunday morning. The Daily Telegraph reports the pilot
failed a breathalyzer test.
Few specifics are available about the incident, though the
Telegraph reports its sources believe police were called after a
member of the airport's ground staff suspected the pilot of
imbibing before departing on the long trans-Atlantic flight to San
Francisco.
"At approximately 9am on Sunday, officers attended an aircraft
at Heathrow Terminal One and arrested a 44-year-old man," said a
spokesman for London's Metropolitan police. "The man arrested is
bailed to return to Heathrow police station on January 16 pending
further enquiries."
Passengers said they were surprised to see the pilot led out of
their aircraft by police.
"We couldn't believe what we were seeing. The pilot was marched
off the aircraft," said one traveler to The Sun. "A couple of
police officers stormed onto the plane as we were all sitting down
and went straight for the cockpit... We didn't have a clue what was
happening and we were kept waiting on the plane for hours."
"United's alcohol policy is among the strictest in the industry
and we have no tolerance for abuse or violation of this
well-established policy," the airline said. "Safety is our No. 1
priority and the pilot has been removed from service while we are
co-operating with authorities and conducting a full
investigation."
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