The pilot was charged under the UK's Railways and Transport Safety Act
A Delta Airlines flight from Edinburgh, Scotland, to New York City was recently canceled after the pilot showed up drunk and was later arrested, New York Post reported. The incident happened on June 16 when passengers were already onboard and the flight was about to take off.
However, the 61-year-old pilot was arrested at the Edinburg Airport around 10 am, just 30 minutes before the Boeing 767 was scheduled to take off. Notably, his blood alcohol level was found above the legal limit of 0.02.
Meanwhile, the flight to New York was canceled and the passengers were re-accommodated.
Delta Airlines confirmed the incident, stating, "Delta confirms that one of its crew was taken into custody Friday morning at EDI Airport. Delta is assisting the authorities with their ongoing inquiries. Delta's EDI-JFK flight (June 16) has been canceled, and customers are being re-accommodated. We apologize to customers impacted by this cancellation.''
The pilot was charged under the UK's Railways and Transport Safety Act of 2003, which imposes limits on alcohol consumption for crew members. As per the RTSA, the legal blood-alcohol limit for airline crew members is 20 milligrams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood.
The maximum penalty for anyone found guilty of being "over the prescribed limit" is a two-year jail sentence.
A spokesperson for Delta said the company's ''alcohol policy is among the strictest in the industry and we have no tolerance for violation.''
The pilot was scheduled to appear Monday at the Edinburgh Sheriff Court, according to the Herald Scotsman.