Two United Airlines pilots from the US have been arrested in Scotland by police for being under the influence of alcohol, shortly before flying a transatlantic passenger jet from Glasgow to the US.
Police arrested the two men, aged 35 and 45, on Saturday morning, before boarding a 141-passenger United Airlines flight to Newark, New Jersey, which was scheduled to take off from Glasgow airport at 9 AM.
“Police Scotland can confirm that two men aged 35 and 45 have been arrested and are presently detained in police custody in connection with alleged offences under the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, section 93,” a police spokesman said.
The section he was referring to concerns pilots who attempt to fly planes while exceeding the prescribed limit of alcohol.
“A person commits an offence if he performs an aviation function at a time when the proportion of alcohol in his breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit, or he carries out an…