An inbound United flight into Heathrow last month saw a member of the cabin crew team inebriated and require medical attention from paramedics upon landing. The flight attendant has received a judgment from court that she will not face prison time, but will have to pay a financial penalty.
While statements published indicate that the crew member might not have been in a suitable psychological state to perform duties on the flight, having a blood-alcohol level higher than the maximum limit can pose significant risks to the safety of the entire flight.
Nearly 10 Times Over The Maximum Limit
On October 17, a transatlantic service by 
United Airlines from San Francisco to 
London Heathrow Airport (LHR) saw one of the members of its team of cabin crew needing medical attention upon landing. Reports from Metro indicate that the aircraft was met by paramedics after landing at Heathrow’s Terminal 2, where the crew member in question was diagnosed with low blood pressure and smelling of alcohol.
The reports indicate that the cabin crew member was found to have a blood-alcohol level of 216 milligrams per 100 milliliters, which is nearly 10 times higher than the legal limit for cabin crew members who are on duty. Additionally, it was reported that the alcohol (vodka) consumed was sneaked onto the aircraft by the crew member to “calm her nerves” during the nearly 10-hour-long overnight transatlantic service.
Reports from The Sun include statements from Ben Lansbury, who was on the defense side, who stated that the crew member had been feeling “isolated” and “dealing with grief” prior to the flight in question. Further statements include,
“She had the alcohol because she needed to calm down.”
“It was something of a shock to her as to what happened.”
“She deeply regrets what happened.”
No Prison Time, But A Financial Penalty
According to the publication, the court heard the details and events of what happened, which included an admission from the crew member herself regarding performing an aviation function while she was drunk. The final decision of the court was that, since the flight was not disrupted, the crew member would not face any prison time (which could have been two years), but would have to pay a financial penalty, as follows:
|
Total Penalty |
Fine |
Victim Surcharge |
Court Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
|
£2130 |
£1461 |
£584 |
£85 |
|
$2803 |
While in this instance, the flight was uneventful and all passengers and crew members safely arrived at their destination, alcohol can contribute to safety issues, especially if consumed by members of the cabin crew and flight deck crew, because on board the aircraft, they are the ones in charge of operating the flight safely, but also reacting to any abnormalities or incidents a flight could experience.
The importance of crew members’ roles and the fact that the side effects of alcohol on the human body can be made worse with increasing altitude naturally point to the fact that alcohol symptoms like delayed response/reaction time, reduced functions of primary senses, such as sight, and reduced body balance and coordination, are made worse when flying, which is not ideal for crew members to experience during a time of emergency onboard the aircraft.
An Issue Among Passengers And Crew Members
While it is essential that pilots and cabin crew members on duty should not be drinking (or be drunk for that matter) due to the critical functions they perform before a flight, during a flight, and after a flight, there are considerably fewer restrictions on passengers drinking onboard or showing up to a flight drunk. Quite often, passengers who are inebriated can pose safety risks to fellow passengers and crew members on board, and they can also be the reason for a flight getting disrupted.
Passengers becoming unruly and causing disruptions severe enough for a flight to divert is often reported in the news, and this can cause significant disruption for an airline to its operations, and in the case of carriers operating a hub-and-spoke model, a single disrupted flight could have a ripple effect across its entire network, resulting in flight delays, missed connections for other passengers and even possible crew members running out of duty time due to a delay or diversion.
In recent times, airlines have been more strict with their alcohol policy to ensure disruptions remain minimal. Data shows that in the US alone, the FAA annually issues fines in millions of dollars to unruly passengers, and last year, a passenger in the US received a record high fine of $80,000 for disruptions caused by alcohol-induced behavior.
