Once again we have somebody else, who is not a pilot not even a flight crew member, taking stupid actions against a flight crew.
This is a theme of RESPECT
, nowadays everybody has the chance to stop a pilot to do is duties properly with every excuse, security (he/she might be a terrorist ) safety( he/she is drunk, under drugs etc).
I do not know where in the world would a pilot be flying under the influence,
first: because is a pro, and specially because with him/her is a complete flight crew that would not let this happen.
Now it should be payback time and go to court and sue the delators to the maximum limit, of course sue as well the state, thas allows these situation to develop. Where security personnel is more responsable than a pilot.
By the way there is an Japanese ointment for muscle pain that smells like alcholl and does not have a single drop of it, I use it after playing squash.
Dear fellows once again or we start to have same respect regarding our jobs and responsabilities or one day we will be flying with a security guy on our back with 4 strippes and we with 2 or less asking permission to do the cheklist or start engines, they will be the captainīs of the future and we will be drivers the new category of pilots
Amazing. You might be 35,000 feet above the ground, CR-ASC but you're not above the law. The "Pilots are professionals" line doesn't work. Sorry. Coach drivers sometimes - SOMETIMES - drive drunk, or over-tired. Factory workers sometimes do the same. Policemen sometimes take bribes. Doctors sometimes cut the wrong kidney out. Journalists sometimes get their facts wrong - and some of them stoop so low as to, er, "embellish" their articles. School dinner ladies sometimes burn the soup and hospital workers sometimes don't clean the floors as thorughly as perhaps they know they should. People screw up and so if someone - anyone - has a valid reason to SUSPECT - not
know, but
suspect - that a pilot or coach driver or brain surgeon or traffic cop is for any reason not fit to fly, drive, or cut, then I can't think of a single good reason why they should not take appropriate action.
There are all sorts of other arguments to be had - eg, shouldn't the whole thing have been cleared up a lot sooner, especially if (
if!) the pilot knew his diet gave him a breath problem?
There was also an interesting argument earlier on about whether the pilot should have had his licence taken away forever - ok, not this pilot,but any other pilot who might actually be found guilty of being over the limit.
Then there's the stuff about overwork and tiredness. Fascinating. Hard to test for, though, isn't it? Back on the ground, the Highway Code imposes a simple duty: "Make sure that you are fit to drive." There then follows a list of advice on what to do if you are too tired. And I think there have been plenty of cases of drivers being prosecuted because they caused accidents while suffering from lack of sleep. Problem is, it's a bit tricky to spot "too tired" drivers until they do something regretable as a result. Same for pilots I should imagine.
As for the journalist and The Sun, I refuse to waste any words other than to say that, yes, in response to one forum member, you can potentially sue for libel (slander applies to the spoken word, libel the written word). It isn't even necessary for the pilot (or any other victim) to be actually named - merely identifiable (eg, "a tall, bald, moustachioed Asian, 55-ish Virgin Atlantic captain with an earring"). Moreover, if the hack had written something like "Virgin Atlantic captains are always p***ed" then there is case law to say that all Virgin Atlantic captains could sue!
The suggestion, however, that no one ought ever to question the 100.0% integrity of an airline pilot would be laughable if it weren't so tediously arrogant.
Rant over.