On October 28th, 2018 a pilot named Katsutoshi Jitsukawa was arrested at the Heathrow airport for being drunk. The pilot after his arrest pleaded guilty for being drunk almost 9 times than the legal alcohol limit for pilots. The pilot was arrested shortly after he failed his breath test.
In the breath test, he recorded at having 189 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood in the system. The normal alcohol limit for pilots is 20 mg.
The pilot pled guilty for this crime of exceeding the alcohol limit in front of a judge at the Uxbridge Magistatrates court.
According to Japanese media reports, the pilot was arrested after the crew bus driver smelled alcohol on the first officer. Afterward, the driver alerted the police authorities.
The pilot was due for a flight of Japan Airlines which was headed from London to Tokyo. The flight number was JL44. The pilot ultimately failed the breath test 50 minutes prior to the departure time.
The flight which was carried out by Boeing 777 left the airport after a 69 minutes delay.
JAL also issued an apology statement along with their pledge to “implementing the immediate action from preventing any such future occurrences”. They also added in their statement, “Safety remains our top most priority”.
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