mad_jock
There may well be some countries and areas of operation where, as you say, pilots of this man's considerable skill and experience will be like gold dust etc and his conviction will make no difference.
Elsewhere, the conviction may cause him more problems than you believe.
It is true that, in
most circumstances, the spent conviction provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act apply. NB: Only in the UK.
Removal from the service (whether dismissal with disgrace or simple dismissal) is subject to a rehabilitation period of 1 year beginning on the date of conviction.
However, there are exceptions to the usual provisions which recognise that there are certain activities for which fuller disclosure of a someone’s criminal record history is relevant. Those exceptions include occupations (and some hobbies) for which a licence is required.
Where an exception exists, applicants are not entitled to rely upon the spent conviction provisions and an employer or licensing body will be eligible for a disclosure certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly the Criminal Records Bureau) containing details of all unprotected cautions and convictions. (Certain old and minor cautions and spent convictions are protected from disclosure.)
I have not checked but, given that licensed taxi drivers are not entitled to rely upon the spent conviction provisions, I'd be surprised if professional pilots are.
Visa requirements (questions asked) re travel to another country are a matter for the country concerned. They are not bound by the UK's spent convictions provisions.
I hope the pilot concerned will be flying again in due course. It would be very sad if his entire career was permanently ruined.
SHornet
The article posted is from The Daily Fail.
If he wasn't discharged from the service and/or was not in unlawful possession of Class A drugs then much of what has been posted in this thread is irrelevant and he would have a strong case for substantial damages against the newspaper.
In the meantime ....
No-one has said he is a "bad person". That is not the issue.
We don't even know if he did all of this "on a school night", he might have had a couple of days off.
One would be more serious conduct than the other in a service context, but both would be criminal/service offences.
You are entitled to your view about people taking illegal drugs. It is not a view taken by any of our three services in relation to service personnel.
My previous query still stands.