Pilot jailed for being drunk at Glasgow Airport
A pilot who was found to be seven-times the drink-fly limit as he was set to co-pilot a flight from Glasgow to America has been jailed.
A pilot who was found to be seven-times the drink-fly limit as he was set to co-pilot a flight from Glasgow to America has been jailed.
Carlos Roberto Licona, 45, was minutes away from serving in his role as a First Officer on a United Airlines flight to Newark, New Jersey, when he was taken out of the cockpit of the Boeing 747 and breathalysed.
Licona came to the attention of Glasgow Airport security staff due to the smell of alcohol on his breath - after security alarms sounded when he and his fellow pilots passed through security checks ahead of the early-morning flight on Saturday, August 27 last year.
The police were contacted and officers raced to the runway and hauled Licona off the flight - in front of 72 of the 144 passengers who had already taken their seats.
Licona, of Texas, was breath-tested and blew a reading of 63microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath - seven-times the 9mcg drink-fly limit.
And Licona told the Police Scotland officers probing his drinking: "I had a few beers with lunch yesterday with the rest of the crew and a few with dinner."
But, in reality, he and a colleague sat up downing drinks while the rest of the United Airlines workers went to bed - in breach of the airline's rules on drinking before flying.
He was detained over the revelations and taken to Helen Street police office, in Glasgow's Govan area, where he gave a blood sample.
And the sample, which was taken hours after Licona was removed from the flight, showed he was more than two-and-a-half times the 20mcg blood alcohol level.
The details emerged today when Licona appeared in the dock to plead guilty over the incident.
He admitted breaking Section 93(1)(b) of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 by having had 48microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of blood whilst he "did perform an activity ancillary to an aviation function."
Procurator Fiscal Depute Scot Dignan said Licona had arrived off a flight the day before and spent the evening in a local Hilton Hotel, before returning to the airport the following morning for the flight back to Newark.
And he said that Licona boarded the flight with two other pilots - another First Officer and the Captain.
The prosecutor added: "As United Airlines cabin crew and pilots passed through the body scanners the alarms activated.
"While conducting a search a security officer spoke to him and could detect the clear smell of alcohol from the pilot's breath.
"All the flight deck and cabin crew where chewing gum - a sign they may have been trying to hide the smell of alcohol."
Licona's criminal behaviour caused the flight to be grounded for over nine hours, before it eventually took off with 141 passengers on board.
Gordon Jackson QC said Licona was a family man with a military background prior to becoming a pilot.
And he said the pilot, who has no previous convictions, had struggled with an alcohol addiction for a number of years but sought help after being arrested for the offence and returning to America.
The lawyer explained: "He has a drink problem.
"What he has done, when he went back to the USA, when released from here, has been to address his use of alcohol - and address it in a very structured way.
"In particular, going to something called HIMS - the Human Intervention Motivation Study."
Mr Jackson said the HIMS Program was specifically-designed to treat pilots who have addiction issues, adding: "The Airline Pilots Association started it and it is funded partly by the government, in order to deal with this particular problem."
He said Licona was suspended by his United Airlines and was not being paid - but had not lost his job.
And he said Licona's hope was that he would be able to return to flying once having completed the HIMS Program - and being subjected to regular random alcohol testing.
He asked Sheriff David Pender to spared Licona jail, saying he would be able to pay a large fine, or could return to court in the future to be sentenced, once having fully-completed the HIMS Program.
But Sheriff David Pender ruled there was only one way he could deal with Licona - and slammed him for his conduct.
As he jailed him for 10 months, reduced from 15 because he admitted his guilt, the sheriff said: "I have various concerns about this case.
"You were in a very responsible position of trust - there were 144 passengers that were relying on you and the other pilots to keep them safe.
"If called upon to do your duties there must have been a question mark over whether or not you could do them properly, and I think that's certainly an aggravating factor.
"You state in the social work report that you've had a dependency on alcohol for many years but have taken no steps to deal with it until after this incident.
"You and one of your colleagues continued to drink after the rest of your colleagues had gone to bed, and did so in the knowledge that you breached your employer's eight-hour guidelines on drinking before the commencement of your shift."