Lakewood pilot draws suspended sentence

A Lakewood airline pilot Friday told a British court that he tried to fly a plane load of passengers despite being over the alcohol consumption limit that nation imposes on pilots because of a “miscalculation” moments before a judge handed down a suspended 10-month sentence.

Erwin Washington, 51, was scheduled to fly a Boeing 767 with 135 people aboard from London to Chicago when he was detained by police after another airline employee reported Washington smelled of alcohol as he prepared to depart from Heathrow Airport in early November, 2009.

The flight, which was to carry 124 passengers and 11 crew members, was canceled and the passengers rebooked, a United spokeswoman told the Edge.

Washington last month pleaded guilty at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on charges of to being above the British blood-alcohol level for working pilots. A breath test showed Washington’s blood-alcohol level was more than 2 ½ times the amount allowed under British law, according to evidence presented at trial court

The Uxbridge Gazette reported Washinton posted a reading of 31 micrograms of alcohol per 100 milliliters of breath – the legal limit being nine micrograms and that a subsequent blood test indicated Washington’s had 50 milligrams per 100ml of blood. The limit for pilots is 20 milligrams. The legal limit for driving a car is 80 milligrams, according to the Gazette.

Washington , who was sentenced in Isleworth Crown Court, could have been jailed for up to two years and fined.

The judge told Erwin that, as a pilot, he should have been aware of his responsibility as a pilot to ensure safety.

Safety also was the point when Washington’s employer addressed the issue of his arrest.

“Safety is our highest priority and the pilot has been removed from service while we are cooperating with authorities and conducting a full investigation,” United Airlines said in a statement. “United’s alcohol policy is among the strictest in the industry and we have no tolerance for violation of this well-established policy.”