Hi °C | Lo °C A pilot has been arrested on a passenger jet at Heathrow on suspicion of being drunk.
The 44-year-old man was arrested following a breath test as the plane waited at Terminal One on Sunday morning. The man was a first officer for United Airlines and was due to embark on a flight to San Francisco prior to his arrest, the Sun newspaper reported.
He has been bailed to return to Heathrow police station in January. The legal limit for pilots is nine micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, three times stricter than the drink-drive limit.
In a statement, United Airlines said: "United's alcohol policy is among the strictest in the industry and we have no tolerance for abuse of violation of this well-established policy.
"Safety is our No 1 priority and the pilot has been removed from service while we are cooperating with authorities and conducting a full investigation."
