Drunken pilot was already in the clouds

LONDON — The crew of a Japan Airlines flight was traveling by bus to Heathrow Airport when the bus driver had a suspicion there was something wrong with the co-pilot.

He could smell it on his breath.

After the driver alerted authorities, the co-pilot, Katsutoshi Jitsukawa, 42, was arrested at Heathrow — 50 minutes before his flight to Tokyo. A breath test showed he was almost 10 times over Britain’s alcohol limit for pilots.

Jitsukawa admitted he had consumed two bottles of wine and five cans of beer hours before he was to help pilot Flight JL044 last Wednesday, authorities said. The flight was delayed for more than an hour before taking off with two pilots instead of the usual three.

At the Uxbridge Magistrates Court on Thursday, the co-pilot pleaded guilty to exceeding the legal alcohol limit, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said. He was detained until his sentencing Nov. 29.

Japan Airlines apologized, even though the pilot already had passed the airline’s breath test, the Kyodo news agency said..

“We will implement immediate actions to prevent any future occurrence and to regain our customers’ trust,” the airline said in a statement.

Japan’s transport minister, Keiichi Ishii, said Friday that he will tighten rules about alcohol consumption by flight crews after a series of incidents.

In May, a Japan Airlines flight attendant was caught drinking a beer in a bathroom during a flight, Kyodo reported.

In June, a British Airways pilot was jailed for eight months after a breath test found he was more than three times over the limit before he was to fly a long-haul flight. The pilot, Julian Monaghan, had consumed three double vodkas and a Diet Pepsi on an empty stomach, the BBC reported.