Two Japan Airlines pilots grounded over drinking before Melbourne flight

Two Japan Airlines pilots have been suspended after they drank an excessive amount of alcohol the day before a flight and then proceeded to lie about it. Photo / Getty Images

Japan’s transport ministry has issued an administrative order suspending two Japan Airlines captains from flight operations for drinking about three times more alcohol than the company’s acceptable level the day before a flight and lying to the airline about it.

The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry issued the penalties on Tuesday under the Civil Aeronautics Law, suspending the then-captain from flight operations for 180 days and the co-pilot for 210 days.

The then-captain of the airplane, 59, and his co-pilot, 56, crewed JAL Flight 774 from Melbourne to Narita which departed on the morning of December 1 with 114 passengers and crew members, according to the ministry and others.

The two pilots had been consuming alcohol until 4pm on the day before the flight, even ordering three bottles of wine. Before the flight, alcohol was detected in their systems, but the pilots failed to properly inform flights management and others of the drinking the previous night. They also conspired to lie during interviews after the flight about the amount of alcohol consumed.

Regarding the co-pilot, a problem involving drinking in 2018 was also taken into account when the ministry took administrative action against him.

Japan Airlines announced disciplinary action against eight executives, including a 30% pay cut for two months for chairman Yuji Akasaka and president Mitsuko Tottori.

The then-captain has been suspended from flight operations for 180 days and the co-pilot for 210 days. Photo / Masahiro Takagi

The company has also removed Akasaka from his position as general safety manager – the person with the responsibility and authority to oversee safety management – and appointed and appointed managing executive officer Yukio Nakagawa as his successor.

Japan Airlines made headlines earlier this week after one of its plane’s wings clipped the tail of a Delta Air Lines planes while taxiing on a runway at an airport in Seattle, Washington.

On Wednesday at 10.40am local time, the right wing of Japan Airlines flight 68 struck the tail of Delta Air Lines flight 1921 while the planes were taxiing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) confirmed.

Delta spokesperson Samantha Moore Facteau told the Associated Press in an email the Boeing 737 was waiting to have ice removed from its exterior when the tip of the other aircraft reportedly struck its tail.

There were no reported injuries to crew or passengers following the incident.

– Additional reporting, NZ Herald