Japan Airlines says pilot repeatedly faked alcohol tests before flights

A Japan Airlines employee who admitted to drinking alcohol in Hawaii before his scheduled piloting duty last month, causing delays as the airline found a replacement, had on multiple occasions tampered with his testing kit to avoid detection under similar circumstances, the operator said on Thursday.

The 64-year-old captain had been flagged by the airline as someone who needed close monitoring after he was found with a below-threshold level of alcohol seven years ago. He had vowed to quit drinking, according to JAL.

The airline said the pilot, who flew international routes, had altered the date settings on his alcohol testing kit during the latest instance and on previous occasions after consuming alcohol before piloting flights back to Japan.

In December, JAL banned its pilots from drinking during their stays before return flights, following a spate of alcohol-related problems involving the carrier’s employees.

In the latest case, after flying from Japan to Honolulu on August 27, the pilot had three beers – each 568 millilitres – by around 2.30pm, according to the company.

The next morning, he used his testing kit about 60 times, with every result showing the presence of alcohol. He then changed the dates of some of the tests on the kit, creating the appearance that they had been performed sometime earlier.