Jail for BA pilot four times limit after drinking vodka and wine before his flight
A BRITISH Airways pilot who reported for duty more than four times over the drink limit was jailed yesterday.
Julian Monaghan, 49, had drunk wine and vodka before turning up for a night trip from Gatwick to Mauritius.
He was arrested on board a Boeing 777 by armed police after a technician making pre-flight checks smelled booze on his breath.
Yesterday the father of two did not react as he was sentenced to eight months by a judge who told him he had put the safety of the aircraft and all those aboard at risk.
Lewes Crown Court in Sussex heard Monaghan’s career had “gone up in smoke”, he would never work as a commercial pilot again and his teenage son had not spoken to him since the incident.
Judge Janet Waddicor told him it must have been humiliating to be arrested and it was a “personal tragedy” he had lost his career.
But she added: “What better deterrent for a pilot as to what can happen if you drink than to see what has happened to you.”
South Africa-based Monaghan, who was dressed in a
ryanair boss mocked for moaning
RYANAIR chief Kenny Jacobs, left, who complained on social media about delays to his flight was ridiculed yesterday.
He wrote: “On flight that should have left at 0650 but will leave after 0830 because of Air Traffic Control staff shortages.”
Ryanair shared his post and got dozens of replies, including dark blue suit and white shirt, had pleaded guilty to reporting for duty while over the limit at a previous hearing.
The court had been told he had one glass of wine on an overnight flight to Gatwick from Cape Town, on which he travelled as a passenger.
He had nothing to eat but then drank three vodkas with Diet Pepsi by 11.15am.
After he was arrested aboard the jet due to take off at 8.20pm police found a reading of 86mg of alcohol per 100mg of blood.
That was more than four times the 20mg limit allowed for pilots and above the drinkdrive Aoife Crowley’s: “Nice one Ryanair. You retweet your CMO’s ‘caring’ tweet about delays to holiday goers but left the tweets about being stuck at Gatwick for 11hrs yesterday unanswered.”
Another said: “I’ve sat on Ryanair flights countless times and experienced delays...tough. Now you know how it feels.” limit of 80mg. Pilots must follow a strict “bottle to throttle” policy forbidding them from drinking eight hours before a flight.
Monaghan, who was chewing gum when arrested, had been rostered as the jet’s “third pilot” and had intended to sleep for several hours in a bunk until he was needed.
But Judge Waddicor said he would have been called on to “step into the breach” if anything had happened to the two other pilots.
She added: “The safety of passengers and public confidence in pilots is critical.”
Emelyn Jones, mitigating, told the court: “This is a sad case from a personal perspective. He is a man of exemplary character who grew up wanting to be a pilot as a boy.
“He bitterly regrets what happened.”
After the hearing Monaghan, who had worked for BA for 17 years and was a senior first officer, was led to a prison van in handcuffs.
The airline said his behaviour had been “completely unacceptable”.