Pilots are allowed to drink before a flight

Well, to a certain extent of course. The limit, according to one report, is that it’s three times lower than the driving limit.

I bring this up because I came by an article yesterday which horrified me. A United Airlines pilot was arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport before his passenger plane took off under the suspicion of being above the legal drinking limit, ABC News reported.

I just assumed that the pilot was not a passenger, and was indeed about to fly the plane but it was not mentioned in the report. However, I found this other article which confirms that this man, who was unidentified, was indeed one of the plane’s pilot – the first officer of the plane, to be exact.

He has since been suspended pending investigation.

What troubles me most, however, was this:

In a statement, the airline said: “United Airlines’ alcohol policy is among the strictest in the industry and we have absolutely no tolerance for abuse or violation of this well-established policy.

The other report explained that the legal limit for pilots is nine micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath (apparently, drink-drive limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath). I’m not sure how much that is but if we take the usual two glasses of beer for drunk driving, then this would come up to about half to three-quarters of a glass?

Which, I think, is a lot considering you’re maneuvering such a huge vehicle, with so many lives relying on you. Of course, no one would admit to getting drunk on one glass of beer but … And if it’s true that United Airlines has one of the strictest policies … then other pilots are drinking more than that, no?

You know, when I first read about the nine micrograms, I just assumed it was like if the someone had cake with alochol in it, or had a dish of drunken chicken at a Chinese dinner – that kind of bits of alcohol.

Now, my calculations might not be correct (if anyone knows, please leave a comment and correct me and I’ll fix it), but it is a scary thought nonetheless. And for there to be such irresponsible pilots around – eeks. I did a Google search and there has been other instances in the past too such as this and this!

9.10am Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

Tags: alcohol limit, pilot