Pilot jailed for being twice legal alcohol limit before flight

0 Paul Brady Grebenc with his wife Emily at Paisley Sheriff Court yesterday An airline pilot who admitted preparing to fly a passenger jet while more than twice the legal alcohol limit has been jailed for ten months.

Paul Grebenc, 35, was due to fly as first officer on a United Airlines flight from Glasgow Airport to Newark, New Jersey, on 27 August last year when concerns were raised about his fitness to fly.

A blood test carried out later that day found he had 42 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, more than twice the legal flying limit of 20mg.

Sheriff David Pender sentenced the former US Air Force pilot to ten months behind bars after Grebenc pleaded guilty to the offence when he appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court yesterday.

Sheriff Pender said: “I realise you have had several major difficulties in your personal life and this has had an impact on your consumption of alcohol.

“There are strong mitigating factors but you were more than twice the limit, and it raises questions about whether you would have been able to carry out your job properly.”

Grebenc pleaded guilty to performing “an activity ancillary to an aviation function” at stand 28 at Glasgow Airport while more than twice over the legal limit on 27 August last year.

The court heard that on the morning of 27 August, Grebenc and his United Airlines colleagues were brought to Glasgow Airport from the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow, where they had spent the night, having flown from the US to Scotland the previous day. They were due to fly a Boeing 757 to Newark with takeoff scheduled for 9am.

As they passed through the staff search area, security staff smelled alcohol on the breath of the other first officer, Carlos Licona, and raised the alarm.

Police were contacted and went to the departure gate, where Licona and Grebenc, also a US Air Force reservist, were removed from the flight.

Fiscal Depute Scot Dignan said: “Police did not go on board the aircraft as they wanted to be discreet and not alarm passengers.”

Licona was sentenced to ten months in prison earlier this month after he admitted boarding a flight while under the influence of alcohol.

The plane took off later that day with a new crew and 141 passengers on board.

David Mckie, defending Grebenc, said his client was extremely remorseful. He said: “He has asked me to express his remorse and apologises to the court.”