Pilot jailed for turning up drunk to fly 156 people from UK to Pakistan

The 55-year-old was breath-tested at Leeds Bradford Airport in September

A Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A310 pictured at Leeds Bradford Airport in 2011 (Flickr/Mark Winterbourne)

An experienced pilot, who was found to be more than three times over the permitted alcohol level as he was about to fly an Airbus with 156 people on board from Britain to Pakistan, has been jailed for nine months.

Irfan Faiz, 55, who is from Pakistan, was breath-tested at Leeds Bradford Airport in September as he was undergoing pre-flight checks. Security staff had raised concerns after they said Faiz smelled of drink and was unsteady on his feet.

The pilot told police he had consumed three-quarters of a bottle of whisky but had stopped drinking at about 3am. He was arrested before the flight which was due to depart at 10.10pm.

Faiz gave an initial reading of 41 micrograms in 100 millilitres of breath on the police officer's handheld device. The legal limit for driving a car is 35 micrograms, but for flying in the UK it is just nine, the court heard. He later gave a reading on the evidential machine of 28.

The Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A310 flight to Islamabad on 18 September had 145 passengers and 11 crew on board.

Faiz's barrister, Paul Greaney QC told the judge that, despite being an experienced pilot, Faiz was not aware of the drink-fly rules in the UK.

The judge sentencing Faiz at Leeds Crown Court, said it was “extraordinary” that rules in Pakistan only state that there should be a 12-hour gap between “bottle and throttle”, no matter how much the pilot had drunk.

Mr Justice Coulson said he was “astonished” to hear that pilots regularly flying out of the UK were not aware of the rules in this country.

Faiz's barrister, Paul Greaney QC, told the court his client was not a heavy drinker but was under a lot of stress at the time because of a kidnap threat against his family back home.

The court heard that Faiz was an experienced and well-respected pilot with 25 years' experience and an unblemished record.

The judge told Faiz: “It is important that the sentence I pass carries the important message that, in general terms, airline pilots who are in drink when they are about to fly will go to prison.

“This is a very serious offence. If he had not been stopped, he would have flown the aircraft to Islamabad. That could have had potential catastrophic consequences.”