Miroslav Gronych, a Sunwing Airlines pilot, faces charges after being removed from the cockpit prior to a Saturday morning flight with a final destination of Cancun, Mexico.

According to police, officers responded to the Calgary International Airport shortly before 7:00 a.m. following reports from gate crew staff and flight crew members indicating a pilot was behaving oddly.

The unconscious pilot was removed from the cockpit of the aircraft and transported into the custody of CPS members. Officers conducted tests that indicated the pilot was severely impaired by alcohol.

“He was more than three times the legal limit,” said CPS S/Sgt. Paul Stacey.

Mirolslav Gronych faces charges of:

Having care and control of an aircraft while impaired

Having care and control of an aircraft over .08

S/Sgt. Stacey confirms Gronych is a 37-year-old from Slovakia who is in Canada on a work visa.

Sunwing Airlines issued the following statement following the arrest:

We can confirm that shortly before 7am local time, the gate agents, first officer and crew of Sunwing flight 595, departing from Calgary and destined for Cancun, determined that the Captain was unfit to fly and reported this accordingly. The Captain was immediately escorted off of the aircraft and the incident is now under investigation with local authorities. We are very appreciative of our crew’s diligence in handling this very unfortunate matter in accordance with. We were able to secure a new Captain and are pleased to report that our customers are now en route to their destination after experiencing a minimal delay. We are very apologetic for any upset that this has caused and would like to assure our customers that safety remains our utmost priority.

Sunwing Airlines has a zero tolerance policy on alcohol consumption within 12 hours of duty and any crew member suspected of violating this policy would be removed from duty pending an investigation. This is more stringent that the Transport Canada regulation of 8 hours.

Sunwing Airlines flight WG595 was scheduled to stop in Regina and Winnipeg prior to its final destination of Cancun. Police say there were 99 passengers and six crew members on board the 737 800 series aircraft at the time the pilot was removed.

Flight WG595 was scheduled to depart Calgary International Airport at 7:00 a.m. but departed at 8:29 a.m. following the removal of the pilot. The plane arrived in Cancun at 7:08 p.m. EST.