A Japan Airlines pilot was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport on Sunday, October 28th for being too drunk to fly, has admitted to being nearly ten times over the legal alcohol limit.
Katsutoshi Jitsukawa, failed a breath test at the airport, after the driver of the crew bus reported they could smell alcohol on the pilot.
The 42-year-old flyer was found to have 189mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system, the legal limit for a pilot is just 20mg. Appearing at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Thursday, Jitsukawa a first officer for Japan Airlines, pled guilty to exceeding the alcohol limit. Jitsukawa was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on November 29th.
Police were only alerted to the drunken state of Jitsukawa, who had been due to be part of the flight deck crew on a Boeing 777 due to depart for Tokyo in less than an hours time.
The flight, JL44 eventually left Heathrow some 69 minutes late and the airline issued a swift apology "The Company does not condone the individual's actions," and assuring passengers that "safety remains our utmost priority" and promising it would "implement immediate actions to prevent any future occurrence".
(image Japan Airlines
