An American airline pilot, Lawrence Russell, has pleaded guilty to arriving for work impaired through drink or drugs after being caught over the alcohol limit before he was due to fly a Boeing 767 full of passengers from Edinburgh to New York. The 63-year-old captain with Delta Airlines was searched by airport security officers last June and found to have two bottles of Jägermeister in his luggage, one of which was half full. Russell was later arrested after failing a breath test and was remanded in custody at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
During the hearing, the court heard that the alcohol level in Russell’s blood sample was “not less than 49mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood”, with the legal limit at just 20mg in 100ml. Fiscal depute Matthew Millar said that the accused had told officers he was “terrified” when cautioned and charged. Pamela Rogers, defending, provided the court with a medical report detailing the treatment Russell has been undergoing for his alcoholism. She said that he was “under no illusion” of the seriousness of the offence.
Delta Airlines has not yet commented on the case. Sheriff Alison Stirling deferred the sentence to later this month to prepare reports. It is not the first time something like this has happened, for safety reasons airlines need to ensure their pilots are properly checked before they are permitted to operate flights
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