US airline pilot with alcohol in his system before flight jailed
An American airline pilot who was caught with alcohol in his system before he was due to fly a Boeing 767 from Edinburgh to New York has been jailed.
Lawrence Russell Jr, 63, a captain with Delta Airlines, was caught with an opened bottle of Jäegermeister and a second unopened bottle in his luggage when it was searched by security staff at Edinburgh Airport in June last year.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told one of the bottles was found to be “half full” and the police were subsequently contacted and Russell Jr was arrested following a failed breath test.
The pilot was remanded in custody at the Capital court on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to reporting for duty as a pilot while being impaired through drink or drugs at Edinburgh Airport last year.
Prosecutor Matthew Millar told the court the pilot was due to captain a Boeing 767 flight to JFK Airport in New York when his luggage was selected for inspection at around 8am on June 16 last year. Mr Millar said the airport security staff “noted Mr Russell was wearing a pilot uniform, a lanyard around his neck and a Delta Airline crew pass”.
The pilot, from Georgia, USA, was “identified as the owner of the bag” and when the luggage was searched the bottles of Jäegermeister were found within. The court was told one of the bottles of alcohol found in the bag had been opened and was “half full”.
Mr Millar said: “Given Mr Russell was wearing a pilot uniform the police were contacted. Mr Russell identified himself to the constables and said he was the captain of the aircraft.”
The pilot provided police with a sample of breath at around 9.30am and he was subsequently arrested and taken to Livingston police station where he provided a sample of blood. The court heard the alcohol level in the pilot’s blood sample was “not less than 49mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood”. The legal limit is just 20mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood.
The fiscal depute said that when the pilot was cautioned and charged, he told officers: “I’m terrified.”
Lawyer Pamela Rogers, defending, provided the court with a medical report of the treatment Russell Jr has been receiving for his alcoholism and said he was “under no illusion” as to the seriousness of the offence.