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Suspected drunk pilot arrested minutes before take-off


Cape Town - A pilot who was scheduled to fly from Newquay Airport in Cornwall to London Gatwick has been arrested after one of the crew members on board the Flybe aircraft summoned police to investigate the pilot's soberness. The pilot was removed from the aircraft and asked to do a breathalyzer test. 

The passengers on board the flight were already in their seats on the aircraft when it was announced that the flight had been cancelled because pilot was unwell. The flight was delayed more than 4 hours and one passenger missed his connecting flight from Gatwick to Mexico because of the delay, reports Daily Mail

The pilot, who will not be named until after an investigation, was taken to the Newquay police station. He has since been released on bail until 8 December, reports The Independent

This is not the first incident of a pilot attempting to fly an aircraft over the legal acohol limit. In September last year Pakistani International Airlines pilot Irfan Faiz was caught having three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood, minutes before he was due to fly a plane with 156 people on board. Faiz spent 9 months in jail because of the violation. 

Also Kolbjorn Jarle Kristiansen, an United States American Eagle pilot, was removed from the cockpit after reeking of alcohol before his flight from Minneapolis to New York City was due to take off in January 2013.


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