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A US airline pilot was caught with alcohol in his system before flying a Boeing 767 from Edinburgh to New York, a court heard yesterday.
Lawrence Russell Jr, 63, was remanded in custody after pleading guilty to turning up for work at Edinburgh Airport while drunk or on drugs.
The Delta Airlines captain was found with two bottles of Jägermeister in his bag – one of them ‘half full’ – when security staff searched him in June last year.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told police were contacted and Russell Jr was arrested following a failed breathalyzer test at 9.30am He was taken to a local police station where his blood alcohol content was found to be more than double of the legal limit, the court heard.
Prosecutor Matthew Millar told the court that the pilot must have been the captain of a Boeing 767 flight to New York’s JFK airport when his luggage was selected for a security inspection at around 8am on June 16.
Lawrence Russell Jr, 63, was remanded in custody after pleading guilty to turning up for work at Edinburgh Airport while drunk or on drugs.
Prosecutor Matthew Millar told the court that the pilot must have been the captain of a Boeing 767 flight in New York when his luggage was searched (file image)
Millar said airport security staff “noticed that Mr. Russell was wearing a pilot’s uniform, a lanyard around his neck and a Delta Airline crew pass.”
The pilot, originally from Georgia, USA, was ‘identified as the owner of the bag’ and when searching the luggage, the Jägermeister bottles were found.
The court was told one of the bottles of alcohol found in the bag had been opened and was “half full”. Millar said: “As Mr Russell was wearing a pilot’s uniform, he contacted the police.
“Mr. Russell identified himself to the agents and said he was the captain of the plane.”
The pilot provided police with a breath sample at around 9.30am and was subsequently arrested and taken to Livingston police station, where he provided a blood sample. The court heard the level of alcohol in the airline pilot’s blood sample was “not less than 49mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood”.
The legal limit is 20 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood.
The fiscal depute told the court that when Russell Jr was cautioned and charged, he told officers: “I’m terrified.”
Solicitor Pamela Rogers, defending, provided the court with a medical report on the treatment Russell Jr has been receiving for his alcoholism and said she was “under no illusions” about the seriousness of the offence.
Russell was due to be captain of a flight from Edinburgh Airport (pictured) to JFK Airport in New York when his luggage was selected for security screening at around 8am on June 16, the court heard.
Sheriff Alison Stirling remanded Russell Jr into custody and adjourned sentencing for the preparation of reports until later this month.
Russell Jr pleaded guilty to performing an aviation function at a time when his ability to perform the function was impaired due to drink or drugs and reported for duty as a pilot and captain of a Boeing 767 where the proportion of alcohol was not less than 49 mg. in 100ml of blood at Edinburgh Airport on June 16 last year.
Following the pilot’s arrest, the flight from Edinburgh to New York was canceled and Delta Airlines confirmed that passengers received help with their travel plans.
Delta Airlines has been contacted for comment.