A member of Ryanair’s cabin crew was filmed allegedly downing a 187ml bottle of rosé wine and a double shot of whiskey during a flight he was working on from Rzeszow in Poland to Stansted Airport.
The 26-year-old flight attendant failed a breathalyser test once the plane safely landed in the United Kingdom and he was arrested by local police on suspicion of performing an aviation function while impaired by alcohol.
A video of the flight attendant ‘necking’ the alcohol was passed to The Sun newspaper by a passenger who interacted with the crew member.
The passenger told the newspaper: “I don’t know what he was thinking. I asked for a drink and when he came over he said to me, ‘Shush, don’t tell anyone but I will have one, too.”
“Then he started necking a shot of whiskey. He also had a 187ml bottle of rosé. He sounded drunk and looked like he had been drinking for longer than just on the flight.”
The flight was operated by Austrian-based Lauda Airlines which became a fully-owned subsidiary of Ryanair in 2019. Other cabin crew onboard the aircraft did not appear to be aware of what was happening in the aft galley.
According to The Sun, the crew member recorded an alcohol ration of 50mg per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal driving limit in the UK is just 35mg per 100 millilitres of breath.
Alcohol rules for aircrew can vary but in the UK and many other European countries, pilots and cabin crew are not permitted to drink alcohol within at least eight hours of working a flight.
Even then, aircrew must ensure that the level of alcohol in their system does not exceed strict limits. In general, blood alcohol limits are lower for aircrew than for driving.
A spokesperson for Lauda said the crew member had already been sacked. “Lauda Europe has investigated a reported individual cabin crew breach of this strict policy,” the airline said in a statement.
“The cabin crew member in question no longer operates for Lauda Europe.”
The crew is due to appear in court on June 8. If found guilty, he could face the prospect of jail time.
