A British Airways pilot arrested in the cockpit for being four times the drink-fly limit was told today there was a “very, very high chance” he will be jailed.
Julian Monaghan, 49, was led from the flight deck by armed police minutes before the planned 8.20pm departure of a 12-hour flight from Gatwick to Mauritius in January.
Monaghan, who is no longer employed by BA, pleaded guilty at Crawley magistrates’ court to being over the limit while reporting for flying duty.
Mel Wotton, prosecuting, said the alarm was raised by a technician who smelled alcohol on the first officer’s breath.
Monaghan was later found to have 86mg in 100ml of blood — four times the 20mg limit for pilots. The limit for driving a car is 80mg.
Emlyn Jones, in mitigation, told the court that his client had drunk a vodka and coke at 10.30am, well outside the eight-hour prohibition period for flying. He said Monaghan was “appalled, astonished and horrified that he was still over the limit”.
Mr Jones submitted that his client was only a “fraction” over the drink-drive limit and was not “falling down drunk”.
This was rejected by chairman of the bench Dr David Wiggins, who said: “I have to say the comparison to drink-driving is somewhat spurious in these circumstances. A pilot in a Boeing 777 is somewhat different from driving on the road, so we are completely ignoring that comment.”
Mr Jones added: “He has thrown away the only career he has ever known. He has been a pilot his whole life, and that has gone.”
Sending the case to crown court, Dr Wiggins told Monaghan: “I think you need to prepare yourself. There is a very, very high chance that it will be an immediate custodial sentence.”
Monaghan, who gave his address as care of a solicitors’ firm, was arrested at Gatwick Airport after Sussex Police received a call at 8.25pm on January 18. The 12-hour flight was scheduled to leave at 8.20pm, but the plane was left waiting at the gate for two hours while airline staff looked for a third pilot.
Monaghan is due to be sentenced at Lewes crown court next Tuesday.
