Pilot jailed for being more than double the alcohol limit
A United Airlines pilot has been jailed after he admitted going to work more than double the drink-fly alcohol limit.
First Officer Paul Grebenc, aged 35, was removed from the plane at Glasgow Airport on August 27 2016, along with his co-pilot, Carlos Roberto Licona.
Police had been alerted after security staff had noticed alcohol on the breath of the co-pilot when he’d passed through security checks at the airport.
Officers went to the departure gate, where Licona and Grebenc – both US Air Force reservists – were removed from the flight, said a BBC report.
Grebenc, from Humble in Texas, was sentenced at Paisley Sheriff Court to 10 months in prison.
Earlier this month Licona was jailed for 10 months after also admitting attempting to board the flight while drunk.
The pilots and other United staff had been staying overnight at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow having flown from the US to Scotland the previous day.
They were due to fly a Boeing 757 to Newark, New Jersey.
The incident caused the flight to be delayed for nine hours, affecting 141 passengers.
Sentencing Grebenc, Sheriff David Pender acknowledged the former pilot had major difficulties in his personal life which had an impact on his alcohol consumption but said he had deliberately flouted his employer’s guidelines by ignoring an eight-hour gap between drinking alcohol and being on duty.
A United Airlines spokesman said: "We hold all of our employees to the highest standards. This pilot was immediately removed from service and his flying duties in August 2016."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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