We have yet another story about Japan Airlines pilots who caused operations problems by exceeding the company’s maximum blood alcohol limit, delaying a Melbourne-Tokyo flight by three hours.
The pilots disputed the initial result which would have forced them to be grounded and a new test (several hours after the first) eventually came back with an acceptable result.
This comes roughly half a year after Japan Airlines faced a similar incident in Dallas, and the DFW-TYO flight was eventually canceled because it was obvious that the captain was in no condition to fly.
As reported today by Nippon TV, this incident occurred on December 1st when the pair of pilots was scheduled to operate the Japan Airlines flight from Melbourne to Tokyo-Narita.
Japan Airlines said alcohol was detected in two pilots before their flight from Melbourne, Australia, to Narita Airport, near Tokyo, on December 1, causing a delay of more than three hours for the flight’s departure.
Officials of the carrier said the two had alcohol levels exceeding the company-set limit when they underwent pre-flight tests at their hotel.
Further tests were conducted until they passed, resulting in a departure delay of 3 hours and 11 minutes.
The officials said the pilots ordered a glass of sparkling wine each and a total of three bottles of wine at a restaurant the day before their flight.
The amount surpassed Japan Airline’s limit of alcoholic beverage consumption, but the two did not report the matter to the company and claimed the test results were false.
The development came after the airline lifted in October its ban on all crew members drinking alcohol at their destinations.
The prohibition was put in place after a Japan Airlines pilot caused trouble due to drinking earlier this year.
The company said it will reinstate the alcohol ban starting December 11.
This is so typical Japanese. Following the Dallas incident (see below), JAL implemented an alcohol restriction on its crew for six months, simply to provide lip service to the public following bad press.
The new test results that were returned were obviously not zero after such a large amount of wine the previous day. They barely scraped by, so they were allowed to pilot the plane.
Japan Airlines Cancels Dallas-Tokyo Flight After Captain Gets Drunk During Layover
It didn’t even take two months from the date this was retracted until the next set of Japan Airlines pilots emptied THREE BOTTLES OF WINE the evening before their flight the following day. Even without the sparkling wine to which they also admitted, this is a massive amount of alcohol to consume.
How many crew members shared the three bottles isn’t mentioned in the article, but had there been anything exculpatory (such as the entire crew drinking the three bottles), I’m sure it’d been noted.
Airlines have been way too lenient and generous with affording crews the luxury of freestyle layovers that include drinking and partying based on an honor system. This goes for both cockpit and cabin crew. The layover is designed for the crew to rest and not go on a bender in the well-known nightlife areas of the world or get wasted at the hotel.
There are destinations that are notorious for crew to have one too many and be out and about all night prior to their flights (Bangkok being one of them), and maybe it’s time for airlines to pull the screws a bit tighter and have station management inspect the crew, including a breathalyzer before every flight.
Maybe getting used to some non-alcoholic beverages would be a great idea for these crewmembers.
I like a drink every now and then but can’t figure out for the love of it why some people are so addicted to alcohol that they can’t even go a couple of days (or even one flight) without drinking adult beverages.
Conclusion
Japan Airlines was forced to delay a flight from Melbourne to Tokyo after the captain and co-pilot of the flight failed an alcohol test.
The company subsequently decided that a renewed alcohol test was warranted to validate the results and determine if the flight had to be canceled. The crew members eventually passed the test, and the flight was able to take off with a delay of a bit over three hours.
I wouldn’t have expected such unprofessional behavior from a pilot of Japan Airlines, even though many Japanese love their alcohol and drink quite a bit in excess at times. This is the second such alcohol-related incident for Japan Airlines this year, and it’s becoming embarrassing.
Do you think airlines should start to implement stricter rules for pilots and cabin crew during layovers, including a total ban on alcoholic beverages?
