Pilot arrested at Manchester
 

The BBC reports that a Finnish Pilot due to fly a 757 from Manchester to Dalaman was arrested yesterday, Monday 23rd, on suspicion of excess alcohol.

The flight was delayed several hours whilst fresh crew were detailed for the flight.

The pilot has been bailed until the 26th October pending tests on his blood sample.

Finnair, Finnair pilot flying on the Air Scandic contract?

Who said he was Finnair? Sweatbox till blood tests return.

Finnish pilot working for Air Scandic according to teletext. Poor guy - stupid thing to do and now he will pay the penalty.

Not if he really was drunk, he very definitely is NOT a "poor guy"

eal401,

You don't know the circumstances as to why he may have been drinking and neither do I. The fact remains that if guilty, his aviation career is likely to be over. For that reason he has my sympathy.

As I said in the previous post, a stupid thing to do and he will suffer the consequences. I'm sure he knows that.

If he is found guilty then there is no sympathy,we all Know what the consequences are and he knew that A)before he started drinking and B) when he went to work.Many of us(and me included)have been close to the line I would not want(or seak)anyones sympathy and the reasons that he is allegded to have done it are irrelevent.

Easy to say Matcat when your viewing it from the outside. Any number of mental/emotional problems beyond his control...its just a miracle that it was noticed when it was and before departure...Its sad because people who do things like this just dont realise what their doing and if this is the situation here, I do feel very sorry for the pilot involved.

Something similiar happened with Royal Brunei a few weeks back didnt it???

Im ex Air Scandic and have first hand experience with these guys. I will only say Im not surprised and will watch the outcome with interest.

I am sorry if this sounds harsh but there is to much of "it is not my fault" syndrome if an airline pilot turns up for work over the alcohol limit then I am sorry but it is His/Her fault if He/She turns to drink/drugs to compensate for emotional or other problems then that said person will sooner or later either be caught or cause an accident.The long and the short of the situation is that we are employed to take Pax from A-B if we cannot do this without consuming to much alcohol then We should no longer be in that position,and no it is not easy for me to say because as you will read in my previous post I have also been in a similar situation.As for the Royal Brunei situation,I do recall something about this but have been on holiday recently have not been keeping up on it,sorry.
matkat

"Who said he was Finnair?"

According to some reports the plane was on wet lease from Finnair.

there may be reasons he was in this state - if so you phone in sick or make some other excuse - If you fly pissed you have only YOURSELF to blame and should NOT expect sympathy from other pilots.:*

Cringe.
The very wording "Wet Lease" from Finnair means that the crew will be supplied by Finnair.

and "Dry Lease" means no drinking 12 hours before departure :uhoh:

Sorry, I'll get me coat. But seriously, there are no excuses.....we get paid alot of money to be responsible (at least while we're at work)

Errrr has he been found to be drunk or was he checked and suspended pending the results. You lot are a bunch of @@@@@.

he is not guilty at the moment. if he was palstered then he will get what he deserves.

He was a reported by a carpark bus driver more than one of which have a dislike of pilots. the driver is not qualified to judge someone and may ruin someones career with an accusation. lets wait and see before we hang this guy. what if he is below the limit , will the bus driver be pulled up or continue to seeth with angst and jealousy when he goes to work, the jobsworth floodgates are open gentlemen ..prepare your own wellies and dont punch holes in someone elses.

you are all at the mercy of someone accusing you should they have the motive, with no repercussuions ......for them!!!

Alcohol
 

How did we all manage when we weren't subject to random drug testing, alcohol testing and The brilliant employees of the TSA treating
pilots as criminals.

There was a time when Airline pilots were trusted as the professionals that the vast majority of us are, to use their own judgement on alcohol use as well as laws like 8hrs bottle to throttle.

This is not politically correct, but I cannot possibly condemn this pilot, many of us including myself have pushed the limit, not as much anymore of course, with the scrutiny we endure but why not ask this question.

With the exception of the JAL DC8, how many airline accidents do any of you know of where alcohol was even suspected as a factor?

How many of us have flown fatigued to 'get the job done' and may have been just as impaired as someone with a hangover.

As pilots we constantly have to 'approve ourselves for flight'
if we were all adamant about not flying when we do not feel optimal there would be a lot of cancellations, how many of us are under pressure not to call in sick and avoid doing so to stay out of the office?

I don't endorse this pilot's breaking 'the law' but I wonder how 'impaired' he really was, unlike some others on this forum who have no mercy and seem incapable of mistakes themselves
my heart goes out to this guy, and I hope his life is not ruined.

If you've ever flown fatigued, you're impaired as well, gone to work after an argument with the wife and can't get it off your mind? you name it.

True, we need to know the facts, i.e. whether or not he actually was drunk!

But what staggers me, and to be honest frightens me, is the "professional" pilots quick to defend one of their brethen even if he was drunk.

I assume you'd be as forgiving if he'd jumped in a car and mown down a small child?

My memory is either letting me down, or I didn't actually say that.

My point is that to be found/suspected or whatever of being "Under the influence" seems to be much more acceptable if the individual is in the flying fraternity. That is not neccesarily the reality, but it is the feel of some posts.

And I am very sorry but if the individual's BAC does turn out to be too high then he gets no sympathy from me. If that makes me sub-human, then I am very, very, very disturbed by the direction both society and this industry is taking.

I certainly would not expect such sympathy if I was a drunk driver, why the difference here?

But, as I said, and was obviously ignored in my previous post, we do need to know the truth first. My opinions are valid if he is found to be guilty of the crime.

Some of you tend to think this a "found guilty" thread.I for one am not doing that,I neither know the person or the facts involved my post purely reflected if He/She or any FCM is caught trying to operate an aircraft whilst "under the influence"My post is neither personal nor accusary but is merely pointing out my thoughts on this person or any other SHOULD they be found guilty,afterall if I go out tonight and drink to many and drive my car home and get caught am I likely to get any sympathy from my fellow members here? absolutely not!and I would not expect it either.Sometimes in this life We have to stand up and take responsibilty for our actions and it is no use blaming unseen bus drivers for what they may and may not like.
matkat