Drink driving offences which occur in other countries are treated as criminal convictions for the purpose of entry into Canada and must be disclosed when applying for a visa, or on the arrival card if your passport gives visa free entry.

Indeed. A long time CBSA Officer (a Customs guy to you and me) friend of mine says that an impaired driving conviction does NOT automatically result in a denial of entry into Canada, regardless of nationality. It all "depends" he said, "on what else comes up when we scan your passport..".

May be I should make my point much clearer then, if this flight had been enroute to Barcelona, would the Spanish arrest any non-Spanish based pilots when they next went to Spain for what ever reason and charge them again? You get charged in the country you were in when committing the offense, this may lead to repercussions with your country of residence when you return, but that country cannot charge you again for the same offense.

It might not be exactly the same offence - the UK one might be some kind of "operating a plane while drunk" one while the Canadian one could be some kind of "licence violation" one. Both arise out of the same circumstances, but they aren't technically the same. I can't imagine TC licensing turning a blind eye to a pilot with a british "drunk flying" conviction just because it didn't happen in canada....

I am sure that if they receive a conviction then TC will be adding that to their own records and the pilots licences, BUT they will not be tried again in Canada which is what some of the earlier posters were alluding to.

Any update on this sorry tale?

Nothing since beamender's above post of 26 July. I guess the wheels of justice are still slowly turning, behind the scenes.

Will they still be employed with transat ?

Doubt it if they are convicted.

What sort of aggressive behaviour were they portraying ? Did the cabin crew suspect anything ? Anybody have anymore info ?

It is my understanding they were let go. Their union also walked away from them as this did not happen in the normal course of their jobs. That's what I heard anyway.

I presume if a pilot presents himself for duty wearing some sort of a cape it would arouse suspicions (as noted in an earlier post).

Unless it was BOAC where a cape and a silver topped cane were de riguer IIRC

and don't forget the white gloves!

Another alcohol incident at Glasgow, this time involving a UA crew.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-37208114

Beware the bar staff in the Holiday Inn!!

Further reports now say the Captain was not one of those arrested but two other flight deck crew were involved.

yes -anyone flyng out of Scotland should be very wary about touching alcohol at all - the police are clearly on alert and sensitive about any possible infraction

Two airline pilots were arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol as they prepared to fly from Glasgow Airport to New York. The United Airlines pilots, aged 35 and 45, were detained by police ahead of the 09:00 flight on Saturday. Their jet, which was headed for Newark Airport, was carrying 141 passengers. It eventually took off at 19:15 with a new flight crew on board. The men are expected to appear at Paisley Sheriff Court on Monday.


Police Scotland said the pilots were arrested in connection with alleged offences under the Railways and Transport/Safety Act 2003 (Section 93). This covers "carrying out pilot function or activity while exceeding the prescribed limit of alcohol".


United Airlines said the pilots had been removed from service and their flying duties pending an investigation. A spokesman said the safety of customers and crew "is their highest priority".