The plane scheduled to fly from Kathmandu to Dubai when one of the crew members suspected that the pilot was drunk.

Budget carrier flydubai on Tuesday confirmed that it had terminated a pilot after he was found under the influence of alcohol, and resulted in a flight delay of more than 10 hours.



"Flydubai confirms that the pilot's employment has been terminated. The safety of our passengers and crew is our priority," the airline's spokesperson said in a statement to Khaleej Times.



The FZ8018 flight was scheduled to fly from Kathmandu to Dubai when one of the crew members suspected that the pilot was under the influence of alcohol (read earlier report here).



The pilot was immediately tested and discovered to have a blood alcohol level above the legally acceptable level, and was therefore immediately deemed unfit to fly, the airline had said in an earlier statement.



As a result, the flight was delayed by 10 and a half hours.



The airline stressed that it has a zero tolerance policy in such matters and the safety of the passengers is its top priority.



"Flydubai has a zero tolerance policy on flight crew found to be in contravention of the regulations regarding alcohol consumption. In line with these stringent rules, we conduct random tests on our operational staff. We further insist that anyone suspected of consuming alcohol prior to flight duty must be tested," said the statement.



waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com