The transport minister said Tuesday his ministry is considering carrying out on-site inspections of Japan Airlines Co and All Nippon Airways Co to look into recent alcohol scandals involving their pilots and take punitive actions. "We’ll check the facts through inspections and strictly deal with the matter
The transport minister said Tuesday his ministry is considering carrying out on-site inspections of Japan Airlines Co and All Nippon Airways Co to look into recent alcohol scandals involving their pilots and take punitive actions.
“We’ll check the facts through inspections and strictly deal with the matter by taking punitive steps,” Keiichi Ishii said at a press conference before the first meeting of a panel tasked with working out tighter alcohol consumption rules by aviation staff by the year-end.
“The scandals could damage trust in Japan’s air safety,” he said.
A JAL co-pilot was arrested by British police after a drinking session the night before a London-Tokyo flight on Oct 28 left him around 10 times over the legal limit under British aviation law, while an ANA unit’s pilot was unable to fly after he became sick from drinking in Okinawa, causing delays to five flights on Oct 25.
