Drunk Heathrow Pilot Arrested 9 Times Over Limit One Hour Before Take-Off
Fasten your seatbelts.
A Japan Airlines co-pilot arrested after failing a breath test shortly before a London to Tokyo flight has pleaded guilty to being almost 10 times over the legal limit for alcohol.
London's Metropolitan Police force say Katsutoshi Jitsukawa appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates Court in west London on Thursday and admitted to exceeding the alcohol limit.
The airline said the co-pilot was arrested on Sunday at Heathrow Airport for violating British aviation law.
The driver of a crew bus at Heathrow smelled alcohol on Jitsukawa and reported it to police, Japan's NHK public television said.
Tests found the 42-year-old first officer had 189 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in his system, almost 10 times the 20mg limit for a pilot. The limit for drivers in Britain is 80mg.
Jitsukawa acknowledged he had drunk about two bottles of wine and a pitcher of beer the previous night, NHK said.
He was ordered detained until he is sentenced on November 29.
Japan Airlines said the flight was delayed more than an hour and had to be operated by the remaining two pilots.
It apologised on Thursday for the incident.
The apology came a day after another major Japanese airline, All Nippon Airways, apologised for causing delays to five domestic flights after a pilot became unwell due to heavy drinking the night before.