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‘Drunk’ pilot jailed for nine months
An airline pilot who was found to be three times over the permitted level for pilots as he was about to fly a passenger plane to Pakistan has been jailed for nine months.
As reported by db, Irfan Fiaz, 55, was arrested in September at Leeds Bradford airport, before he was due to fly the plane, which had 156 passengers on board.
In sentencing Fiaz, Mr Justice Coulson said that it was “extraordinary” that the rules in Pakistan only stated that there should be a 12-hour gap between “bottle and throttle”, no matter how much the pilot had drunk.
Coulson said he was “astonished” to hear that pilots regularly flying out of the UK were not aware of the rules in this country, which are based on the amount of alcohol present in the body.
Mr Justice Coulson said: “I find it extraordinary that rules of conduct relating to pilots drinking can encompass any amount of alcohol providing there is an amount of time, now 12 hours, before a pilot flies.
“I consider this to be an extraordinarily inadequate way to try to prevent pilots drinking in a way that would not endanger their passengers.”
He added: “It is, of course, astonishing, that pilots regularly flying from the UK are not aware of the rules that relate to their own conduct.”
The judge told Faiz: “This has been a high-profile case, attracting a good deal of media interest.
“It is important that the sentence I pass carries the important message that, in general terms, airline pilots who are in drink when they are about to fly will go to prison.
“This is a very serious offence. If he had not been stopped, he would have flown the aircraft to Islamabad. That could have had potential catastrophic consequences.”
The judge concluded: “Many people find flying a difficult and nervous ordeal at the best of times. They need to have absolute confidence in their safety and security.”
Faiz was breath-tested after security staff raised concerns that he smelled of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet. He gave an initial reading of 41 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath on the police officer’s handheld device. The legal limit for driving a car is 35 microgrammes but for flying in the UK it just nine. Faiz later gave a reading on the evidential machine of 28.