A flight out of Dublin was stopped from starting after inspectors who performed random controls found a pilot with alcohol levels “significantly above the” border.
The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) conducted a random inspection on September 17, 2024 at Dublin Airport, Ireland’s busiest airport, seeing that more than 30 million passengers pass through its hubs annually.
The IAA inspectors boarded a cargo aircraft that was flown by a named international shipping operator and sought a copy of the pilot licenses and the plane’s compulsory documents.
The inspectors then performed a routine breathing test for alcohol, which revealed that one of the pilots had blood alcohol levels significantly above the prescribed boundaries.
The pilot was therefore “not in an appropriate state to operate the aircraft,” IAA said.
The inspectors then immediately instructed that the aircraft would not start and instructed the pilot to be removed from the cockpit and prevented from flying the aircraft.
IAA issued procedures in the Dublin District Court and reported the incident to the US federal aviation administration, which in turn has said the pilot’s license has been revoked.
“IAA will continue to carry out unannounced control of foreign aircraft operating at Irish airports and performs respiratory trials on the flight crew, which includes pilots and cabin crew,” the authority added.
Flights can often be delayed or canceled if members of the crew show up to work with too much alcohol in their system, which often leads to losing their jobs.
In January, a Southwest Airlines Pilot was arrested in Georgia, USA before flying to Chicago because he was intoxicated.
David Allsop, 52, was arrested in Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport around 2 p.m. 7 on January 16 and was charged with driving under influence.
The pilot allegedly smelled of alcohol, with photos shared online showing the police removing Mr Allsop from Cockpit in the aircraft.
The flight later started almost five hours after the planned departure.
A similar incident took place with two pilots to drive a Japan Airlines flight to Melbourne and delay the journey by over three hours in December 2024.
Two named male captains had performed self -managed respiratory tests at their hotel around 2 p.m. 05.00 in front of 7 p.m. 7.20, finding that they both exceeded alcohol limits.
Captain A initially started a shift delay due to illness, while Captain B traveled to the airport.
Additional airport tests confirmed that Captain B had increased alcohol levels, which required several tests before a safe reading was finally obtained at 1 p.m. 8.15.
Japan Airlines told The independent that the flight “was not driven with crew members under the influence of alcohol”.
“We take this incident very seriously and deeply regret that it happened despite strict warnings. We will take thorough measures to prevent repetition,” the airline added.
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