Do you know who exactly is behind the controls when you board a plane? A Sunwing pilot that was scheduled to fly from Calgary, AB (Canada) to Cancun, Mexico has recently been charged with having care and control of an aircraft while impaired, with a blood alcohol level over 0.08. At approximately 7 a.m. on New Year’s Eve, Miroslav Gronych entered the cockpit of the 737-800 series Sunwing Airlines plane and promptly passed out.
Lifestyle
Charged With FWI? Impaired Sunwing Pilot, Canada to Cancun
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Serious Lapse in Judgement
Photo: Facebook/JolibaNews Live
The flight crew noticed Gronych behaving strangely before passing out. Gronych, who is a Slovakian foreign national that keeps a Saskatoon, SK (Canada) address will be appearing in court later this month after being arrested on Saturday. He paid $1,000 cash bail for release over this past weekend under the condition that he surrender his passport to city police. He is also prohibited from flying an aircraft. In Canada, it’s against the law for pilots to consume alcohol a minimum of eight hours prior to flying, and some individual airlines (i.e. Sunwing) are known to have stricter rules.
Canadian Transport Minister “Very Concerned”
Photo: Facebook/Sydney Ruest
The plane had 99 passengers and six crew members on board and was scheduled to make stops in Saskatchewan and Manitoba before flying to Cancun. As a result of this incident, Canada’s Federal Transport Minister has written to all airlines flying into and out of Canada, stating that he is “very concerned” about the incident and has requested all airlines confirm their safety protocols to Transport Canada by Feb. 15.
