Jail for 767 pilot six times over drink limit
December 7, 2004 - 10:47AM
smh.com.au
An airline captain due to fly a Boeing 767 from Heathrow with 200 passengers on board who was more than six times the legal limit has been jailed.
Charles Nicholls, 54, a captain with Royal Brunei Airways, accepted that he had drunk a "large amount" the day before but claimed he had observed the pilots' rule of "12 hours from bottle to throttle".
Nicholls, of Admiralty Way, Eastbourne, East Sussex, admitted a charge of carrying out flight preparations as captain of Royal Brunei Airways flight B198, when the proportion of alcohol in his blood exceeded the prescribed limit.
Jailing him for six months at Isleworth Crown Court, Judge Richard McGregor-Johnson told him: "Your blood-alcohol level was over six times the limit for flying. It was over one-and-a-half times the limit for driving a car, let alone flying a passenger aircraft.
"You were entrusted with the safety of the crew, passengers and, of course, people on the ground who may have been affected if anything had gone wrong.
"It is plain you had consumed a large quantity of alcohol on the previous day. That is highly irresponsible and reckless. Whilst I accept you might not have realised you were over the limit, you ought to have thought about it when it was mentioned to you before the police arrived.
"You are an intelligent man and you must know whether it is possible to be clear to fly after a 12-hour period.
"Those who are reckless in such circumstances risk being a danger to the public and to themselves and I am satisfied this demands a custodial sentence."
As Nicholls headed for the plane to start safety checks, a security officer noticed that he smelled strongly of alcohol, said prosecutor Simon Connolly. Police were informed.
"Upon entering the aircraft, he went to the flight deck and started the routine flight safety checks. The first officer did the outside checks and joined the captain for briefing for takeoff. Passengers had begun to board by the time the police arrived," said counsel.
A test taken after police escorted Nicholls from the cockpit revealed that he had (.125) 125 milligrams of alcohol in his system for every 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit for driving is (.08) 80mg and for flying (.02) 20mg.
The ex-RAF navigator, who obtained a commercial pilot's licence in the US and became a captain within four years of joining Brunei Airways, told police he had about four pints the night before and stopped drinking at 9.30pm. A rather implausible story given his alcohol level the following day.
He thought by the time he would be flying any alcohol would have passed through his system, said counsel.
But Tudor Owen, defending, said he ignored the fact that he had been drinking heavily at lunchtime before meeting friends and drinking again in the evening.
"He observed the pilot's mantra of 12 hours from bottle to throttle, but failed to take into account the time it would take for what he had at lunchtime to work through his system. And he did not eat at all that day. He did not suspect he would be over the limit."
Mr Owen pointed out that when he was first spoken to by a handling agent, "he could have reported sick and simply left. He didn't because he had no reason to suspect he was over the limit."
Nicholls was fired instantly by the airline and had little prospect of getting any work, let alone flying again at his age, said counsel.
"He asks me to apologise to the court - he has already to the company - he is desperately sorry for what happened. He is now professionally ruined".
The flight was bound for Dubai.
PA |
