A Delta Airlines pilot was sentenced to ten months in prison for showing up to work at Edinburgh Airport in Scotland while intoxicated. He had two bottles of Jägermeister liquor in his bag, one of which was less than half full. The pilot, Lawrence Russell Jr., a 63-year-old US citizen, was scheduled to be the captain of a flight from Edinburgh to JFK Airport in New York on the morning of June 16, 2023, but his blood alcohol test exceeded the legal limit.
The transatlantic flight had to be canceled, and Russell lost his job at Delta, according to the statement from the Scottish Judiciary. A Delta spokesperson said, ‘Delta was aware of this incident and removed the pilot from service while conducting a thorough investigation in coordination with Scottish authorities.’ At that time, Delta also apologized to affected travelers.
What Happened to the Pilot?
In the court’s sentencing, Judge Alison Stirling told the pilot, ‘Two bottles of Jägermeister were found in your bag, one of which was open and had a little less than half of its contents. Because you were wearing your pilot uniform, the police were contacted. Officers arrived shortly after. You provided your details to the police and told them you were a captain for Delta Airlines.’
When asked about the open bottle, the pilot said he had been drinking the night before but did not pass the breathalyzer test the morning he arrived for work. He was arrested and later provided a blood sample, which also exceeded the limit. The legal limit in Scotland is 20 milligrams for piloting an aircraft, while the limit for driving a car is 50 milligrams, according to the court. In the United States, the limit for a pilot is a blood alcohol concentration of 0.04.
US federal regulations prohibit anyone from acting as a crewmember on a civil flight within eight hours of consuming alcohol or while under the influence of alcohol. The court said Russell was a recovering alcoholic who completed a treatment program after the incident and is now in remission. According to the judge, the pilot had two previous cases of driving under the influence of alcohol, but she also noted that he had no previous convictions in Britain.
The captain of the Boeing-767 pleaded guilty to the charges at the first opportunity on March 5, which played a role in reducing his sentence from 15 months to 10 months, according to the court.”
This story was written in Spanish by Miguel Fernandez in Cultura Colectiva News.
