Alkohol har ingen plass i luftfart - Curt Lewis

ANA apologizes for flight delays due to pilot's boozy night out All Nippon Airways Co. apologized Wednesday for flight delays in Okinawa last week caused by a pilot who called in sick after a night out drinking. Five domestic flights departing and arriving in Japan's southern island prefecture were delayed for up to 58 minutes until a replacement pilot was found. The pilot, in his 40s, had been drinking alcohol until 10 p.m. on the night of Oct. 24 in the city of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, and called in sick the next morning, being unable to make his first flight at 8:10 a.m., said the company. In its apology, ANA said it will ensure its staff are properly educated about alcohol in order to prevent similar situations in the future.

Napping American Airlines baggage handler trapped in cargo hold on flight to Chicago An admittedly intoxicated American Airlines baggage handler fell asleep on the job and ended up flying from Kansas City to Chicago in the belly of a Boeing 737. The employee, who works for American subsidiary Piedmont Airlines at Kansas City International Airport, was working on the ramp for American Flight 363 on Saturday Oct. 27, when he apparently took a nap inside the cargo hold before the flight. No one noticed him missing, and the plane took off at 5:52 a.m. local time with the worker in the forward cargo hold, airline and law enforcement officials confirmed. The baggage handler, who has not been identified, wasn't discovered until the plane landed at O'Hare International Airport and parked at the gate just before 7:30 a.m. local time. The employee was interviewed by the Chicago Police Department, FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office, standard policy in matters involving aviation security. He told law enforcement officials he was intoxicated and fell asleep, according to Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. The baggage handler was not charged with a crime and flew back to Kansas City on another American flight, he said. American spokesman Ross Feinstein said the airline is investigating the matter and that the employee has been suspended. "The American team is very concerned about this serious situation, and we are reviewing what transpired with our Piedmont and Kansas City colleagues,'' he said in a statement. Feinstein said the 23-year-old employee was unharmed and did not request any medical attention when the flight landed in Chicago. The cargo hold is pressurized and heated, he said. "We are grateful that he did not sustain any injuries,'' Feinstein said. This isn't the first time an airline employee has been stuck in the cargo hold during a flight. In January 2017, a baggage handler was trapped in cargo on a United Express flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Washington Dulles. He was unharmed. The most high profile recent incident occurred in 2015, when an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Los Angeles had to turn around after pilots and passengers heard banging from beneath the aircraft shortly after takeoff. A baggage handler was stuck in the cargo hold. He called 911 and said he was trapped in the plane but the connection was lost. The American baggage handler did not have a phone on the flight. Feinstein said cell phone use is prohibited on the airport ramp. Bill Waldock, professor of safety science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, said being trapped in a cargo hold is probably "pretty claustrophobic'' but overall not as risky as it sounds since the area is pressurized and temperature controlled. Besides bags and packages, many airlines carry animals in the cargo hold. "Particularly if they have live animals traveling, they'll keep it on average between 60 and 70 (degrees),'' he said. Waldock counts as many as a dozen publicized incidents of airline workers becoming trapped in the cargo hold over the years, usually because someone fell asleep. He said baggage handling is tiring work, with long shifts and heavy lifting. "Every now and then they try to take naps because they're so tired,'' he said. Waldock said airlines generally have two or three baggage handlers per flight depending on the size of the plane, plus a baggage handling supervisor. The supervisor is charged with making sure employees are accounted for after bags and other cargo are loaded, he said. "But sometimes they slip through the cracks,'' he said. A person familiar with the American incident in Kansas City but unauthorized to speak publicly about it said the napping employee was overlooked because no bags were loaded into the forward cargo hold and the door was closed.   Drunk Japanese pilot arrested at Heathrow Airport 1 November 2018 Share this with Facebook   Share this with Messenger   Share this with Twitter   Share this with Email   Share Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES A Japanese pilot who was arrested at Heathrow Airport for being drunk has admitted being more than nine times the legal alcohol limit. Katsutoshi Jitsukawa, 42, who works for Japan Airlines, was arrested on 28 October after failing a breath test. He was found to have 189mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system - the legal limit for a pilot is 20mg. The first officer pleaded guilty to exceeding the alcohol limit at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Thursday. Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that police were alerted by the driver of a crew bus who smelled alcohol on the pilot. He had been due to be part of a crew flying a Japan Airlines (JAL) flight JL44 to Tokyo but failed a breath test 50 minutes before the departure time. The Boeing 777 aircraft took off after a 69-minute delay. JAL issued an apology and pledged to "implement immediate actions to prevent any future occurrence", adding that "safety remains our utmost priority". The drink-drive limit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 80mg per 100ml of blood, compared to 20mg for pilots. Jitsukawa was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on 29 November. In June, British Airways pilot Julian Monaghan was jailed for eight months for being caught on duty with 86mg of alcohol in his system. He had turned up for work at Gatwick Airport after drinking three double vodkas.