Cops say a pilot was found slumped unconscious in the cockpit of a Mexico-bound Boeing 737 at Calgary’s airport Saturday, with a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.
Staff Sgt. Paul Stacey of the Calgary police traffic section said the 37-year-old Slovakian national, in Canada on a work visa, boarded the Sunwing aircraft with 99 passengers and five other crew members aboard just after 7 a.m., and his behaviour was unusual enough that the airport gate crew notified the co-pilot.
“The co-pilot went and found the pilot in the cockpit, presumably preparing for the pre-flight. We were called and then we took that pilot into custody,” he said.
“He was showing signs of impairment, enough so that the gate crew were concerned and then they found him actually slumped over in the pilot’s seat.”
Stacey said the pilot, the flight’s captain, was removed and taken to the traffic office to be tested. The veteran cop said he still registered an “extreme level” of impairment some two hours after he was ushered off the plane.
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