Pilot found DRUNK and passed out before takeoff say police
GETTY A pilot who appeared to be drunk on a Canadian airline faces criminal charges
A Sunwing Airlines pilot was found apparently drunk shortly before takeoff on Saturday. The pilot, who was also the captain of the flight departing from Calagary, Alberta, was found by the co-pilot, according to Canadian police. They had boarded the Boeing 737 aircraft along with 99 passengers and six crew members. The Cancun-bound flight was scheduled to stop at Regina, Saskatchewan and Winnieped, Mantoba.
GETTY According to police, the co-pilot found the captain in the cockpit slumped over the seat
Calgary Sgt Paul Stacey confirmed that the pilot was found "slumped over in the seat" at a news conference. Police also said that before boarding the aircraft, crew at the gate and on board the plane had noticed that pilot was behaving strangely. The pilot was escorted from the plane and has been charged with having care and control of an aircraft while being impaired. They also face another charge of having a blood alcohol level exceeding .08 while in care and control of an aircraft.
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GETTY The Sunwing Airlines flight was departing from Calgary and heading to Cancun, Mexico
It had all the potential for a disaster Paul Stacey
Paul added that police believed the defendant may have had up to three times the legal alcohol limit in their system at the time. He said as a result of the pilot's alcohol limit, they will have to wait for him to sober up, before he goes before a "justice of the peace". "It had all the potential for a disaster," Paul said, "but I'll tell you this much, the likelihood of a pilot on a major airline like this being able to take off when they're impaired like that is pretty slim, because there's a lot of checks and balances. "There's the other flight crew and gate crew and they're all about safety."
GETTY The plane too off after a short delay with another captain