Drink-row pilot gets job with flight safety panel

A pilot sacked by British Airways after a breathalyser showed he had been drinking is flying commercial airliners again - and has been given a key role improving flight safety in Britain.

Captain Simon Robinson, 53, was dismissed from his £100,000-a-year job with BA in February after an airport worker smelled alcohol on his breath and alerted police. A breath test was positive.

In June he joined UK-based charter airline Astraeus and he now flies 737s between Gatwick, the Continent and Africa. He is also the firm's representative on the UK Flight Safety Commission, a body dedicated to improving safety in the air industry.

The pilot, of Wrecclesham, Surrey, was found to have been drinking as he made pre-flight checks in his Airbus, with 79 passengers on board, in Sweden. It is understood the alcohol concentration was 0.02 per cent, equivalent to one glass of wine. BA rules ban pilots from drinking for eight hours before flights.

Astraeus commercial director Jonathan Hinkles said: "The allegations were never proved."