'Boozy' pilot grounded in Birmingham
 

'Boozy' pilot grounded

Apr 4 2004

By Caroline Wheeler

A pilot was forced to leave the cockpit of a plane at Birmingham International Airport after being accused of being DRUNK, it was claimed last night.

Police are believed to have been called after a member of the public saw the airman drinking in the airport lounge just before his flight.

The pilot was spoken to by cops but shrugged them off to walk air-side and board the plane which was due to fly 200 passengers to a city in central Asia.

But he was removed from the cockpit by concerned ground crew who were alerted by police.

The shocking drama took place two weeks ago, days before tough new powers were brought in to allow cops to breathalyse airline crew they suspect of drinking.

A police source tipped off the Sunday Mercury about the plane drama - and a top Midland pilot told us it was not an isolated incident.

The source said: “The airline pilot and other crew members had been seen drinking at their Birmingham hotel before they made their way to the airport.

“One member of the public saw them and was so worried he followed them to Birmingham International Airport.

“But it is thought the pilot and crew continued to drink when they reached the airport lounge.

“Police were alerted and they approached the pilot who became very shirty and made his way air-side.”

The source claimed airport ground crew were alerted by cops and they eventually ejected the pilot from his cockpit and then the plane. He was replaced by another airman.

“Groundstar [which employs airport ground crew] did an amazing job and stopped the pilot from flying,” said the source.

“But God knows what would have happened had the plane taken off.”

A top Midland airline pilot told the Sunday Mercury that he was not surprised by the incident.

He said: “This kind of thing is not an isolated incident. I have heard of many similar stories in the years I’ve been flying.

“If a pilot is suspected of drinking even a small amount he will be removed from the plane and sent home.

“He is told not to return to duty for 48 hours but he can then be put back in command.”

But under tough new government guidelines introduced last week, pilots who are caught drinking and flying could face a life ban from the skies.

Under the new system, police will be equipped with breath-test kits to detect 20 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood --a quarter of the drink drive limit.

The move came after two British Airways pilots were arrested last month in Norway when their cockpit was found reeking of booze. The men later resigned.

Virgin Atlantic pilot [redacted for PPRuNe] was arrested on December 19 at Washington Dulles International Airport after security staff smelled alcohol on his breath. He was preparing to fly a Boeing 747 to London Heathrow.

[redacted for PPRuNe], 55, has been indicted on a charge of attempting to operate an aircraft while under the influence of an intoxicating drug or alcohol. He denies the charge.

Last year, we spoke to a Midland pilot who lifted the lid on the boozing culture among British airline crews.

The senior captain said pilots and cabin staff regularly drank heavily the night before going on duty - putting passenger lives at risk.

West Midlands Police refused to confirm or deny whether they had been called to the airport two weeks ago.

But a spokesman said: “Police powers to breath-test airline personal did not come into force until last week.

“Therefore we did not breath test anyone at the airport on the date mentioned.”

http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/...name_page.html

"top Midland airline pilot"......hmmm, that just sets the quality of the writing.....true or not, the style of reporting sucks. It reads more like an article from The National Enquirer :ugh:

Doesn't BA fly to Pakistan (Lahore?) direct from BHX? (Not at all suggesting that BA is the airline involved)

What's the difference? Who was the operator?
Blues

You have to agree that some pilots do take an awful risk... like drinking late the night before in front of their early morning passengers.

In some cities in the so called third world there is just one hotel for crew and passengers... and some passengers object to pilots drinking until 0200 before a 0600 take off!! Not one passenger has reported it until after the completion of the flight as usually that flight is the only one to "civilisation" for quite a few days! And a few pilots have been "suspended" until the incedent has been investigated... and nothing happens. It's pretty difficult to get pilots with any sort of total hours to work in some countries.

Please don't shoot the messenger - I've seen it.

Top journo work that article.........! Absolutely full of 'the facts'.

There is not one singularly attributable quote........ everything comes from "a source"

If, for example, the "pilot and crew" continued to drink at the airport, why was just one pilot removed?

I cant wait for the next exciting article from Caroline Wheeler and the Sunday Mercury!

There is a UK operator flying BHX-............in Central Asia and it's not B.A.
There are also four non UK carriers.

Pakistan international airlines serve a direct route from Birmingham to either Lahore or Karachi!

A340 :)

PIA operate daily schedules to Lahore Islamabad and Karachi along with services to Toronto and Chicago.

Uzbekistan and Azerbajan airlines currently operate to 'Central Asia' on vertually a daily basis to feed passengers into the Asian market.

My guess it would be one of those carriers and NOT PIA as Pakistan is a muslim nation that dont believe in drinking.

Well, I seen them drinking....and whisky seem to be rather well accepted by their Gods...
Blues:E

crewmeal

Azerbaijanians and especially Uzbeks are muslims too, however it doesn't mean they not drinking along with Pakistanians and even Saudians...

Come on guys, when are we going to get over this over sensationalistic nonsense about pilots coming to work drunk. There is a VERY real threat affecting the operation of our aircraft today and that is fatigue. Think of this (and I can't condone any pilot who does go to work pis*ed) - a drunk pilot goes to fly an aircraft, he'll probably be sober when he gets to his destination. A fatigued pilot goes to work, he'll be even more fatigued when he gets to the destination - WHO WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE IN COMMAND? With the same poor decision making skills and slow reactions (IMHO) the guys who's constantly knocking on the 900 hours door, 6 days on, 3 days off pattern is more of a threat to your (our) safety.

Much has been said on this topic, but the Authorities regulating their Airlines, and the Airlines regulating their pilots are not doing enough to protect us. We are being worked to a limit, not a guideline, any more. The book says we can work 55 hours per week - the computer rosters say "great - we'll work those pilots to 55 hours per week (because we can)". It says we can work 3 night flights - the computer rosters say "great - we'll work those pilots on their 3 consecutive nights" etc etc

Just think about it :ok:

k

What's the point of redacting a name? The name of the Virgin pilot is already on PPRUNE and if someone is quoting from a newspaper article the name is there.

Stop being so secret squirrel like for G/d's sake. There is no point hiding the blinking name if it is already out there.

Incapitated Crew Members
 

The drunk pilot probably will be sober IF he gets to his destination..........
Which do I prefer to fly with ?????? neither !!!!!!!!
Why are some people prepared to condone or mitigate on behalf of pilots who wrongly drink before duty ???? Some threads adopt the " I know he was drinking BUT......." approach.
Zero tolerance. Pilots are not exempted from drinking problems any more than other professionals operating in a stressful environment. Alcohol abuse is commonin all races and all classes. The safety culture must be to identify the warnings and indicators of problem drinking and problem drinkers before they arrive at the point where their careers, livelihood and the safety of their aircraft and passengers are in jeopardy.

>>My guess it would be one of those carriers and NOT PIA as Pakistan is a muslim nation that dont believe in drinking.<<

That's funny. Ever been out with the Saudia crew on a night stop? Kinda like the Egyptair 990 crash couldn't have been murder/suicide since Muslims don't believe in suicide...

>>What's the point of redacting a name? The name of the Virgin pilot is already on PPRUNE and if someone is quoting from a newspaper article the name is there.

Stop being so secret squirrel like for G/d's sake. There is no point hiding the blinking name if it is already out there.<<

Good point. However, one of the admins has stated that it is PPRuNe policy not to mention the Virgin captain's name.

See: http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...5&pagenumber=2

Yes crewmeal, life is not so black and white. I remember having wonderful sessions with a senior Arab gentleman (for such he was) when at the end of the first bottle of Black Label, when I asked him about the proscription of alcohol he replied, "Ah you do not know your Koran. The translation of the proscribed drink is wine"

Give them a break. Living in a desert with nothing but slender ankles to observe, they need something to assuage the pains of life.

Really? In which case presumably there'll be a business opportunity to set up a whisky importing business in Jeddah/Mecca/Riyadh?

Or perhaps not...........

Err, BA doesn't fly from BHX to Pakistan at all. It flies from LHR to Islamabad.

BEagle,

Whisky has always been available in the Kingdom. Maybe not through the legal importers, but it is available....
Black Label seems to be the biggy.
Blues

Been in (I believe it was) Dhahran once during ramadan and the W-word was so sensitive that ATIS identifier W was announced as "This is information WATER....."