Pilot 'was six times over drink limit'

A pilot accused of being drunk as he prepared to fly a passenger jet at Heathrow appeared in court today.

Uxbridge magistrates heard that Eric Nicholls, 53, of Eastbourne, was more than six times over the legal limit as he made final checks before take-off on a flight to Brunei in July.

Police arrested him in the cockpit only minutes before the Royal Brunei Airlines plane, carrying 170 passengers, was due to depart.

They had been alerted by security officers who said they had smelled alcohol on the captain as he passed through the departure gates, the court heard.

Manjit Mahal, prosecuting, said Nicholls had posed a "considerable risk" to himself and to the passengers.

The court heard that Nicholls had left his Swiss Cottage hotel at 7.15am on the morning of 1 July.

He had made initial checks and been joined by his first officer when police arrested him at 9.45am.

Blood tests showed he had 125mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 20mg.

Nicholls spoke only to confirm his name and address during today's hearing.

He is charged with " carrying out flight preparations ancillary to acting as the pilot of an airline having consumed so much alcohol that the proportion in his blood was over the prescribed limit".

He did not enter a plea and the case was adjourned until 27 October.