Suspicion that two British Airways flight attendants were under the influence of alcohol at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport led to a long delay of a flight from Helsinki to London on Saturday morning.
Police were contacted by a representative of the company that takes care of British Airways ground services at the airport. The representative had been contacted by the hotel where the women had spent the night. The ground services personnel had been tipped off that they should check to see if the two women were in any condition to fly.
Police at the airport administered breathalyser tests to the flight crew, and the readings for the two flight attendants were so high that there was probable cause to suspect air transport intoxication. The two were taken away by police for interrogation and a blood test.
The pilot cancelled the departure of the flight because of an insufficient number of crew. The flight to London’s Heathrow Airport was scheduled for 7:40, but the plane was not able to leave until the early afternoon.
The police investigator in the case, Timo Mollberg, described the two women as experienced flight attendants.
"The usual reason in these kinds of situations is that people have not thought these things through to the end", he describes the situation. He added that he does not feel that this was a deliberate act.
It is standard airline practice that a person who sees that a member of a flight crew has consumed alcohol before a flight is obliged to report it.
British Airways says that it has a policy of zero tolerance on drinking by flight crews before a flight. No alcohol consumption is allowed 8 hours before departure, and in the 24 hours before a flight, consumption must not exceed the bounds of moderation.
The incident is seen as a very unusual one. In December 2002 a Lufthansa pilot and co-pilot who were seen to be inebriated before a flight were stopped from boarding their plane to Frankfurt.
