Airline pilot jailed for drinking
A pilot has been jailed for six months for drinking before a flight.
Charles Nicholls was due to fly 200 passengers from Heathrow to Brunei on 1 July when he was found to be six times over the limit for flying.
Nicholls, 54, a captain with Royal Brunei Airways, of Eastbourne, East Sussex, said he drunk a “large amount” the night before he was due to fly.
He admitted the excess alcohol charge. A judge at Isleworth Crown Court said it was “irresponsible and reckless”.
‘Danger to the public’
Judge Richard MrGregor-Johnson said: “You blood-alcohol level was over six times the limit for flying.
“It was over one-and-a-half times for driving a car let alone flying a passenger aircraft.
“You were entrusted with the safety of the crew, passengers and, of course, people on the ground who may have been affected if anything had gone wrong.
“It is plain you had consumed a large quantity of alcohol on the previous day.
‘Bottle to throttle’
“That is highly irresponsible and reckless.
“Those who are reckless in such circumstances risk being a danger to the public and to themselves and I am satisfied this demands a custodial sentence.”
Simon Connolly, prosecuting, said a security officer noticed Nicholls smelled of alcohol as he headed to the plane to carry out safety checks .
The police were called and Nicholls, of Admiralty Way, was found to have 69 micrograms of alcohol in 100 ml of breath when the limit should be 9 micrograms.
He was fired from the airline immediately.
Nicholls’ defence said he had stopped drinking at 2130 GMT observing the pilot’s rule of 12 hours from “bottle of throttle”.
But he did not take into account the fact he had been drinking at lunchtime.
Nicholls admitted a charge of carrying out flight preparations as captain of Royal Brunei Airways flight B198, when the proportion of alcohol in his blood exceeded the prescribed limit
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December 6, 2004 at 11:00 pm