Drunk British Pilot Hauled Off Plane Was Four Times Over Legal Limit

Drunk British Pilot Hauled Off Plane Was Four Times Over Legal Limit

You may remember back in January when a British Airways pilot was taken off a flight by armed guards after other airline employees called police because the pilot smelled like booze.  Well, yesterday the Sussex Police Department confirmed that the pilot’s blood alcohol level was 86mg, over four times the 20 mg limit for pilots in the United Kingdom.  The Crown Prosecution Service has now officially authorized charges against the pilot.

According to The Sun:

Yesterday, Sussex Police confirmed he had been charged with having 86mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system.

The limit for pilots is 20mg.

In a statement, they said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised a charge of being over the alcohol limit on board an aircraft against a former pilot.

“Julian Monaghan, 49, a resident of South Africa, was arrested at Gatwick Airport’s North Terminal at about 8.45pm on Thursday January 18 on suspicion of performing an aviation function when the level of alcohol was over the prescribed limit.”

The pilot reportedly joined the airline in 2001.

It’s astounding when people drink and drive, and a story like this is also terrifying, given the hundreds of lives that would have been in the hands of the pilot.  It’s downright selfish to ever drive or fly under the influence of alcohol, and hopefully this serves a warning to anybody that does that or thinks about doing it that there are consequences for their mistake.