Pilot Admits being over Drink Limit
A pilot has admitted flying a passenger jet from Spain while three times over the alcohol limit.
Ian Jennings, 47, from Gale Moor Avenue, Gosport, Hampshire, was arrested at Norwich Airport last month after landing a commercial chartered plane with about ten people on board.
He admitted flying while the alcohol in his breath was over the prescribed limit at the city’s magistrates’ court.
Jennings faces a jail sentence of up to two years.
Prosecutor Lesla Small said, “The police had received information from a member of the public and attended Norwich Airport. The passengers were allowed to get off the aircraft and he was breathalysed. This offence is aggravated by the fact he had flown from Spain with passengers on board.”
Officers detected 31 micrograms of alcohol per 100 milliliters of breath, the court heard. The limit for pilots is 9 micrograms while for drivers it is 35.
Marcus Crosskell, mitigating for Jennings, said, “He is a gentleman of unblemished character with a 20-year-plus career as a pilot.”
Magistrates said the case was so serious it would have to be sentenced by a crown court judge at a later date.
Jennings was released on bail on the condition he does not fly any aircraft. His license has been suspended by the Civil Aviation Authority.
The plane is believed to have been a Canadair CL601-3A Challenger.
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