Drunken
airline pilot freed by district court
Drunken
airline pilot freed by district court
A Scandinavian
Airlines pilot who failed a breathalyzer test prior to be scheduled to fly a
plane out of Arlanda airport in May this year, has been freed by the Attunda
District Court.
"This is the
first case of flying under the influence tried in a court and it is new
legislation that is being tested," said Tommy Larsson of the Swedish Airline
Pilots Association (Svensk Pilotförening) to news agency TT, adding that they
were happy with the result.
The court found
that it wasn't proven that the man had started an assignment of "essential
importance for air safety" when he was found to be over the limit, which would
have been necessary to find him guilty of flying under the influence.
Had the pilot
begun the security checks of the aircraft, he would have been convicted,
according to the court.
The Scandinavian
Airlines crew members were asked to take the test in May while they were
carrying out their duties prior to take-off. One of the pilots turned out to be
over the legal limit.
According to an
Aftonbladet source, the man had been working on the outer safety checks of the
craft when he tested positive for alcohol in the border police test.
The man had a
blood alcohol content of over 1.0 promille, which is 0.8 promille over the
limit. The limit in Sweden is a blood alcohol content exceeding 0.2 promille
alcohol, both for driving and flying.
However, at SAS,
the rules are even stricter, prohibiting pilots to fly unless they are under the
0.2 promille limit eight hours before take-off.
After testing
positive for alcohol the man was not allowed to fly and has since been relieved
of his duties and has lost his flight certificate.
The court does
not contest that the man was not in any state to fly the plane, but found that
he could not be found guilty of flying under the influence, which was good news
according to the Pilot's Association:
"We don't defend
his actions, just the criminal charge. It is important to separate what is
written in the SAS policy and in the legislation," said Larsson to TT.
New rules came
into effect in September 2010, making it possible for police to carry out checks
on crew. At the Arlanda and Bromma airports near Stockholm, 1,452 people have
been checked between January and September 2012.
Ingen kommentarer:
Legg inn en kommentar
Merk: Bare medlemmer av denne bloggen kan legge inn en kommentar.