LIAT Pilot At Center Of Drunken Allegation Cleared

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda, December 19, 2016 (CMC) – The Antigua-based regional airline, LIAT, today, said that a pilot — accused by a passenger on board one its flights, last week, of smelling of alcohol — had been cleared of the allegation, after he “voluntarily submitted to independent testing by medical professionals in Barbados”.

In a statement, the airline said that the incident had occurred on December 13, when the passenger on the flight to St. Vincent and the Grenadines from Barbados’ Grantley Adams International Airport, “alleged (to have) detected the smell of alcohol on one of the operating pilots”.

“LIAT’s record of safety and training is of the highest standard and the company strongly refutes any such allegation made towards any of its pilots. The pilot voluntarily submitted to independent testing by medical professionals in Barbados, shortly after the allegation and, as expected, all results were negative.

“All required protocols were followed by our staff and certain passengers were required to submit formal reports to the relevant authorities. This resulted in further delay and the eventual cancellation of the flight,” the airline added.

LIAT said that “No findings or action was taken by any airport or other authority on the passenger’s allegation.”

“LIAT sincerely regrets the disruption of its flight and wishes to assure its passengers that the company, its staff and its crew will continue to operate and serve the travelling public,” the statement noted.

Several media outlets in the Caribbean had reported the incident, last Tuesday, with one passenger telling reporters “when we were already on the plane, a passenger made an accusation. She said she smelled alcohol on the pilot. The pilot had just passed in the aisle and she said she smelled alcohol on the pilot. And then, the other passengers were like, ‘Yes. We smell alcohol’.”

The traveller said other passengers then said that they were not going to travel on a plane where the pilot might have been drinking.

“So she (the passenger) then asked for the pilot to take a breath test. He, of course, refused, and he said if we don’t feel safe travelling with him, he was going to cancel the flight. He, at that point, walked off the plane and went outside.

“The other pilot kept saying that the guy was not drinking alcohol for the day. The lady (passenger) then said she has kids and she has a husband and if he (the pilot) has not been drinking then prove it; let him take a breath test, because she smelled alcohol on him when he passed in the aisle.”

The passengers were flown to St. Vincent, on Wednesday, after spending Tuesday night in Barbados.

Meanwhile, President of the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots’ Association, Captain Carl Burke, said the incident underscored “a total lack of respect for the crew, which was displayed by the passengers”.

Burke told the Observer newspaper that the passengers’ behaviour could be as a result of the recent treatment of pilots by management.

“I am not too sure if it’s because of allegations being made by management about pilots being irresponsible, being always sick, of trying to cause the company harm,” Burke said, adding “we heard allegations coming from a particular shareholder that during the carnival, pilots called sick and go out and enjoy themselves.”

According to Burke, LIAT pilots have a reputation for taking their jobs seriously.

“For years, we have seen that these pilots have taken their jobs very seriously, and I would be very curious if that happened to any of our members,” he said.