Who's high in the sky?

Airlines have caught rogue pilots drinking before flights

British Airways is investigating claims that 11 pilots and three members of cabin crew had broken rules about drinking before flights.

But it is not the first time pilots have been accused of trying to drink and fly.

Two British Airways pilots are known to have lost their jobs over drink and drugs in the last five years and other airlines have been forced to take action against air crew.

British Airways Captain John Ralph was sacked three years ago after arriving for work at Los Angeles airport while under the influence of alcohol.

Press leaks

Ralph, who was 48 at the time, was breathalysed just moments before he was due to take the controls of a Boeing 747-400 carrying 350 passengers bound for London's Heathrow airport.

The £100,000-a-year pilot was immediately ordered off duty and the flight was handed over to a stand-in captain.

Passengers only became aware of their narrow escape from the drunken pilot after the case was later leaked to the press.

Revelations that Ralph had spent almost £50 on drinks from his hotel's mini bar, fuelled speculation about how many other flights he had captained after drinking sessions.

Sky high

Confidence in air crews was further questioned when a pilot working for a company handling BA flights was exposed as a heroin addict who regularly put the lives of his passengers at risk.

A News of the World investigation revealed how Daniel Gregory bragged about downing shots of heroin-substitute methadone while flying for BAC Express Airlines throughout Britain and Ireland.

The company was also revealed to have a lucrative contract to fly BA passengers on a regular route from Belfast to Glasgow.

But British Airways is not the only airline to be hit by drinking and drugs scandals.

Last year, rival airline Virgin had to reassure passengers after one of its pilots resigned amid allegations of drunkenness on a flight from Madrid to Brussels.

Passengers described how the pilot had appeared to "lurch" down the aisle on the way to the cockpit before erratically steering the aircraft down the runway.

Breath tests

The pilot, who was not named, never took off after deciding he was too sick, but later resigned.

In January this year the captain of a Royal Air Maroc Boeing-737 was refused permission to take off from Schiphol airport in Amsterdam because he was drunk.

The pilot, who has not been named, had been due to fly to the Moroccan city of Tangiers with 125 passengers on board.

Passenger groups have also raised concerns that pilots convicted of drink-driving offences are allowed to continue flying even though they are banned from the roads.

The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed there was no provision for random drink or drug tests at British airports.