Japan Airlines Pilot, Katsutoshi Jitsukawa, Arrested For Being 10 Times Over Alcohol Limit

A Japan Airlines pilot, who was arrested in Britain before a flight for being drunk, was discovered to be almost over ten times the legal blood alcohol limit for a pilot.

Katsutoshi Jitsukawa had cleared an in-house breath test and was scheduled to fly a 244-seater Boeing 777 aircraft, but was arrested after a bus driver got suspicious of him and called British police while taking him to the plane at Heathrow Airport on Sunday.

Fifty minutes before his flight’s scheduled departure, Jitsukawa took a blood test which confirmed the bus drivers suspicions. Jitsukawa had 189 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood in his body, which was ten times the legal limit of 20 mg for pilots. 

Jitsukawa reportedly admitted to drinking two bottles of wine and more than 1.8 liters of beer for over six hours the night before the flight.

On Thursday at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court, the pilot pleaded guilty to being over the alcohol limit and he is expected to be sentenced within the next four weeks. 

“We are certain (the in-house breath test) wasn’t conducted properly,” JAL communications chief Muneaki Kitahara told reporters on Thursday.

Japan Airlines has apologized for the incident and in a statement said that “safety remains their utmost priority.” Jitsukawa’s scheduled flight eventually departed after more than an hour delay by the two remaining pilots.

This incident came a day after All Nippon Airways revealed that a hungover pilot fell ill following a night of drinking and causing five flight delays. According to the airline company, the male pilot had called in sick after a night of drinking on the resort island of Ishigaki in southern Okinawa.

Following the two incidents, the transport ministry has enforced airline companies to strictly comply with rules on drinking.

On Friday, transport minister Keiichi Ishii told reporters that the government is going to look into tightening rules on drinking by flight crews. As Japan’s current system for drinking only bans plane crew members from drinking within eight hours of working with no legal limit set and no breath tests required. 

“We will use all possible means to ensure flight safety,” he said.