Another Drunk ANA Pilot Delays Flight
Jackie Reddy February 25, 2019
Japan has introduced new rules relating to the consumption of alcohol among pilots, but despite this, All Nippon Airways (ANA) has confirmed that it had to delay a flight this week because the aircraft’s copilot failed a breath test. The rules come after two high-profile incidents of alcohol consumption among pilots.
Despite the introduction of new rules relating to the consumption of alcohol among pilots by the Japanese government, ANA has confirmed that it had to delay a domestic service this week because the flight’s copilot failed a breath test, AFP reports via the Daily Mail.
The incident occurred on Tuesday, just before the flight – a Boeing 777 carrying 322 passengers – was due to depart the city of Kobe for Tokyo.
The copilot confirmed that he consumed a single can of beer and half of a can of some kind of spirit-based drink approximately six hours before the flight. It is reported that the flight in question suffered a delay of over an hour as the carrier had to locate a substitute copilot.
Under these new rules, ANA has prohibited both pilots and copilots from consuming alcohol 24 hours before a flight.
These more stringent regulations come after ANA suffered multiple flight delays due to a hungover pilot back in 2018.
In a separate high-profile incident, a copilot for Japan Airlines was arrested and jailed in the UK last year after being observed to have a blood-alcohol level nearly ten times the acceptable limit. It is reported that the copilot in question had drunk two bottles of wine as well as nearly four pints of beer the evening before his scheduled flight.
The outlet reports that “Before the rule change in January, Japan had no legal limits on drinking by plane crew members before flights, and breath testing was not required.”
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