China Airlines announced yesterday that it will fire a pilot who was found to be legally intoxicated shortly before a flight in the US, as part of the company's efforts to improve flight safety.
The airline meted out the "most severe penalty" to the pilot after tests showed he had a blood alcohol level of 0.087 percent, more than twice the legal level of 0.04 percent, shortly ahead of his flight from Anchorage to New York on Sept. 25.
The captain was prohibited from boarding the flight after a screener at Anchorage airport smelled alcohol and found an open container of alcohol on the pilot's person, whereupon he was breathalyzed, according to wire reports.
Taiwanese authorities had initially raised doubts about the calculation of the figures in the US because in this country the limit for a breath test is 0.2mm per liter.
They had asked therefore for a re-investigation, which confirmed that the pilot was at fault, the officials said.
"He has been asked to leave the company soon to maintain discipline," airline spokesman Roger Han (
"The pilot had been grounded while waiting for the result of the investigation," Han said.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said on Thursday that the pilot might have his license revoked as his act could have threatened the lives of hundreds of passengers on board the flight
In a report to the CAA, the pilot admitted to having drunk wine, but he denied breaking the company's rules, claiming he consumed the alcohol at least 12 hours before his scheduled flight, a CAA official said.
The report was a blow to the airline, which has been striving to improve its appalling safety re-cord.
A CAL passenger plane crashed into the Taiwan Strait in May last year, killing 225 people on board, in the company's third deadly incident in four years.
Since then calls have mounted for the state-controlled carrier to undergo a comprehensive overhaul.
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