Drunk pilot was ‘10 times over limit’

A Japan Airlines pilot who was arrested in Britain shortly before a flight for being drunk was almost 10 times over the legal blood alcohol limit for a pilot, London police said. The incident came a day after another Japanese carrier apologised for multiple delays after a hungover pilot called in sick.

JAL executives told reporters in Japan that the co-pilot cleared an in-house breath test but aroused the suspicion of a bus driver taking him to the plane at Heathrow Airport on Sunday. The co-pilot, identified as Katsutoshi Jitsukawa, 42, was arrested by British police and required to undergo a blood test that confirmed those results.

He had reportedly consumed two bottles of wine and more than 1.8 litres (nearly four US pints) of beer over six hours on the night before the flight. “We are certain (the in-house breath test) wasn’t conducted properly,” JAL communications chief Muneaki Kitahara told reporters Thursday.

A spokesman for the London police said a test on the co-pilot taken 50 minutes before the flight’s scheduled departure revealed 189 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in his system -- almost 10 times the 20-milligram limit for a pilot. The drink-drive limit in England is 80 milligrams. The pilot later pleaded guilty before a court to being over the legal limit, and is expected to be sentenced on November 29.