Sunwing pilot accused of passing out drunk in cockpit worst case expert has heard of

The case of aSunwing Airlines pilot accused of being so drunk he passed out in the cockpit Saturday morning in Calgary is the most severe aveteran aviation safety expert says he hasever encountered.

"Although this kind of incident has occurred a few times overthe years, this is the worst I have heard of," Edward McKeogh withCanadian Aviation Safety Consultants said in an email.

On Saturday shortly before 7 a.m. pilotMiroslav Gronychboarded aSunwingAirlines 737-800 series aircraft in Calgary.

The planewas scheduled to make stops in Regina and Winnipeg before continuing on to Cancun, Mexico. Ithad99 passengers and six crew members on board.

Members of the flight crew noticedthe pilotwas behaving oddly beforehepassed out in the cockpit, according to police.

• Pilot charged with being impaired was 3 times the legal limit, say Calgary police

Gronychwas arrested by Calgary police andcharged withhaving care and control of an aircraft while impairedand having care and control of an aircraft with a blood alcohol level over .08.

He has been released on bail andordered to surrender his passport.

"Drunks can be quite clever and since there were two domesticstops before the Mexico leg, airport scrutiny was probably not verystrict," saidMcKeogh.

"Hopefully this individual will be sent for some seriouscounsellingand rehab before he is cleared to fly again."

Gronych'sblood alcohol levelwas tested about two hours after he was arrested and was found to be more than three times the legal driving limit, police said at a press conference.

Pilot must surrender passport

It isagainst the law for pilots in Canada to have consumed any alcohol within eight hours of flying and individual airlines,including Sunwing,often have evenstricter rules.

"Sunwing Airlines has a zero tolerance policy on alcoholconsumptionwithin 12 hoursof duty and any crew member suspected ofviolating this policy would be removed from duty pending an investigation,"airline spokeswoman JacquelineGrossman said in an emailed statement.

Gronych isaforeign national from Slovakia in Canada on a work visa.

Hepaid $1,000 cash to be released over the weekend and is under two conditions:

• He surrender his passport to Calgary police.
• He is forbidden from being in control of an aircraft, according to court documents.

Transport Canada is "closely monitoring the situation" while reviewing the pilot's records and Sunwing'sprocedures and protocols.

"As more information becomes available, the department will not hesitate to take enforcement action, including issuing fines and revoking licenses if appropriate," said Transport Canada in a statement.

Random drug, alcohol testing suggested

One way to ease public concern would be to implement random drug testing for pilots, suggestsLeon Cygman, chair of Mount Royal University's aviation program.

"It is a very important job, it's a very stressful job," says Cygman.

"There's a lot of responsibility so I think it's appropriate, in order to ease the public's mind, that pilots with that responsibility do have some random drug and alcohol screening."

Individual airlines or Transport Canada could implement a testing program for pilots says Cygman.

A Crown prosecutor will be assigned to the Gronych case Tuesday afternoon.

Gronychis scheduled to make a court appearance inCalgary on Thursday.

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