Earlier this spring, a Delta Air Lines (DAL) pilot just a few years away from retirement was sentenced to 10 months in jail over a June 2023 incident in which he was stopped from transporting a plane full of people from Edinburgh to New York at the last minute. The security scanning bags tipped off authorities that 63-year-old Lawrence B. Russell Jr. had been carrying a bottle of German liqueur Jägermeister that appeared open and “just under half full.”
While Russell Jr. went through treatment and not touched alcohol since, the judge ended up sentencing him to some jail time over the “reckless disregard for the safety of his passengers and crew.”
Related: United Pilot Suspended After Showing Up to Work in a Disgraceful State
Another incident with an intoxicated pilot occurred when a Japan Airlines (JPNRF) flight scheduled to go from Dallas to Tokyo was canceled at the last minute after police were tipped off to the fact that the pilot had spent the previous night drinking heavily in his hotel with several other members of the air crew.
Pilot reported to police for drinking, prevented from flying ‘as a precautionary measure’
As first reported by Japanese news outlet the Mainichi, a hotel employee had asked the group to be less noisy at around 2 a.m. on April 23. The group did not heed the request and the hotel employee ended up calling the police who identified the fact that one of the guests was a pilot scheduled to fly in a couple of hours.
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The South China Morning Post reported that Flight JL11 was called off due to “the need to assess the captain’s physical and mental well-being.” As the flight was scheduled for late morning and the pilot had taken his last drink earlier in the evening, he was not in violation of the airline’s policy against drinking with 12 hours of boarding but “still prohibited from flying as a precautionary measure.”
Japan Airlines has not been responding to press requests for comment on the situation but, according to several Japanese reports, the 157 passengers who were scheduled to fly to Tokyo were placed on alternative flights in the next 24 hours.
Related: Delta Air Lines pilot with alcohol in system will spend time in jail
Alcohol use among pilots is a serious problem (here are some other incidents)
Over the last year, a few high-profile incidents have drawn the public attention to the checks in place to prevent an intoxicated pilot playing with the fate of multiple people. While pilots are not breathalyzed before each flight they take in the U.S., they are subject to random tests at any time (and will definitely be checked if there is a report or suspicion.)
In July 2023, a United Airlines (UAL) pilot was arrested at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris after “showing signs of obvious drunkenness.” He said that he only drank two glasses of wine but a blood alcohol test revealed a much higher number and was eventually sentenced to a six-month suspended prison sentence.
India, which has some of the strictest airline alcohol laws in the world, has been looking to add a new clause to its Civil Aviation Requirements by-laws that would prevent pilots from consuming “any drug/formulation or use any substance such as mouthwash/tooth gel/perfume or any such product which has alcoholic content.”
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