Delta Airlines Pilot Sentenced After Showing Up to Fly a Plane Drunk and Carrying Jägermeister
A Delta airlines pilot was caught with an open bottle of Jägermeister in his luggage and sentenced to jail after authorities discovered his elevated blood alcohol content in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo: AP Photo/David Goldman)
The Edinburgh Evening News reported that a 63-year-old American Delta Airlines pilot named Lawrence Russell Jr. was caught with an opened bottle of Jägermeister in his luggage. On Tuesday, The Daily Beast reported Russell has been sentenced to 10 months in jail for having an elevated blood alcohol level before attempting to fly a plane from Edinburgh to JFK Airport in New York.
The incident occurred in June and police were immediately contacted after the bottle was discovered in his luggage. He was scheduled to fly a Boeing 767 and the flight was canceled. Delta claimed it helped passengers reschedule their travel plans.
The pilot took a breathalyzer test at around 9:30 a.m. and also a blood test, which revealed he had “not less than 49 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood,” according to The Edinburgh Evening News.
The news outlet cites the legal limit as 20 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood. Upon being charged, Russell told officers he was “terrified.”
According to the Daily Beast, Russell told police he had been drinking the previous evening but had not consumed any alcohol recently.
During the trial, his defense attorney presented a medical report showing Russell had received treatment for alcoholism. She also said he was completely aware of the gravity of his actions.
Sheriff Alison Stirling returned the pilot to custody and deferred his sentence for the reports, which are scheduled for the end of March. Russell Jr pleaded guilty in court.
In February, Delta Airlines was hit with a wrongful death lawsuit. A man reportedly drank excessively on the flight and shortly after landing ran over his wife with a car and killed her in front of her child in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The airline is being sued by the estate of the deceased, and the lawsuit alleges the flight staff overserved the man. This wouldn’t be the first time Delta was hit with legislation involving allegations of flightstaff overserving passengers alcohol.
In July, the airline was sued for $2 million after a woman accused Delta staff of serving 10 vodka drinks to a man who proceeded to allegedly sexually assault her and her teenage daughter during a nine-hour flight.
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