Flyers shocked as pilot accused of being drunk in cockpit
Sunwing aviator found on plane with blood-alcohol level over legal limit
Passengers were shocked to learn the pilot of their Sunwing flight was removed from the plane after being found unconscious in the cockpit with a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.
Norm Mack was visiting Mexico with his wife and two daughters for the holidays, booking a Sunwing flight for the return trip to Saskatchewan.
Mack said his family was delayed more than three hours when passengers started to see social media posts about their pilot being removed from the airplane.
“I don’t want to sensationalize it or anything like that, but I guess when you’re on holidays with family over the holiday season you trust the airline that you’re flying with to look after you,” Mack said.
Just before 7 a.m. on Dec. 31, police said a male pilot for Sunwing Airlines boarded flight WG595 at Calgary International Airport. Before takeoff, the crew members noticed the pilot was behaving oddly before losing consciousness in the cockpit.
The pilot was escorted from the aircraft and taken into custody by Calgary police.
Mack said passengers were not notified by Sunwing about the reason for the delay and he will “think twice” before using the airline in the future.
“In retrospect, thanks probably should have been given to the crew that was on that plane … in the same token I think, whether they deserve it or not, Sunwing’s integrity sort of crashed yesterday,” Mack said.
Sgt. Paul Stacey with the Calgary police traffic section said the pilot was found to have an “extreme level” of impairment.
“It had all the potential for a disaster … but the likelihood of a pilot on a major airline like this actually being able to take off when they’re impaired like that is pretty slim because there’s a lot of checks and balances,” Stacey said.
The Boeing 737 800 Series aircraft had 99 passengers aboard with six flight crew, including the pilot.
The flight had stops scheduled in Regina, Winnipeg and Cancun before heading back to Canada.
Miroslav Gronych, a 37-year-old Slovakian national in Canada on a work visa, was charged Saturday by Calgary police with having care and control of an aircraft while impaired and having care and control of an aircraft while having over .08 blood-alcohol level.
Transport Canada spokesman Dan Dugas said in an email that it is a criminal offence in Canada for a flight crew to work within eight hours of consuming alcohol or while under the influence.
Dugas said Transport Canada is reviewing the pilot’s records and Sunwing Airlines’ procedures and protocols.
In a statement, Sunwing Airlines said a new pilot was arranged for the flight and passengers aboard flight WG595 were on route to their destinations around 2 p.m. on Saturday.
“We are very apologetic for any upset that this has caused and would like to assure our customers that safety remains our utmost priority,” the airline said in the statement.