A British Airways cabin crew member has been ordered to pay £768 after breath tests revealed she was nearly eight times over the permitted alcohol threshold for aviation staff.
Deborah Merritt, aged 59 and from Basingstoke in Hampshire, appeared before Uxbridge magistrates following an incident on a three-hour service from Malaga to Heathrow last month.
The 59-year-old, who is married to a pilot, recorded 70 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath when tested.
Airline crew members are legally required to remain below nine micrograms.
Ms Merritt pleaded guilty to a drink-related offence based on a subsequent reading of 52 micrograms.
Colleagues are said to have observed Ms Merritt unsteady on her feet during the flight from Spain to London.
It is understood that she was escorted to the rear of the aircraft and strapped into a seat before the Airbus A320 touched down at Heathrow.
Upon landing, authorities took her into custody.
A British Airways cabin crew member has been ordered to pay £768 after breath tests revealed she was nearly eight times over the permitted alcohol threshold
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The initial breath test administered to the veteran flight attendant showed alcohol levels dramatically exceeding the strict limits imposed on aviation personnel.
Her reading of 70 micrograms was almost eight times the nine-microgram ceiling that applies to cabin crew working on commercial flights.
The incident brought an abrupt end to what had been described as an exemplary career spanning nearly four decades.
Her defence lawyer, Ghulam Ali, told the court that his client had been coping with a difficult family situation that left her feeling under considerable pressure, the Sun reports.
Deborah Merritt was involved in an incident on a three-hour service from Malaga to Heathrow last month
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Mr Ali explained that Ms Merritt had consumed several bottles of wine the previous day.
He said: “She thought it would be out of her system. She doesn’t eat so much.”
The solicitor informed Uxbridge magistrates that the combination of stress from the family incident and her assumption that the alcohol would have cleared from her body led to the situation aboard the flight.
Ms Merritt had believed she would be fit for duty when she reported for work.
Upon landing, authorities took her into custody
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Ms Merritt’s dismissal from British Airways brought to a close 37 years of service with the carrier, a tenure her legal team described as exemplary.
The flight attendant said she was “devastated I won’t be able to do this job again,” following the court verdict.
In addition to the £768 fine, magistrates ordered her to pay £392 in costs, bringing her total financial penalty to £1,160.
The conviction and subsequent sacking mark a dramatic conclusion to a career spanning almost four decades in commercial aviation.
