Japan Airlines (JAL) announced on December 10th that two pilots were detected with alcohol levels above the standard before boarding their scheduled flight JL774 from Melbourne to Tokyo/Narita on December 1st at 7:20 AM (Boeing 787-8, aircraft registration: JA840J), resulting in a delay of 3 hours and 11 minutes for the departure.
According to JAL, two male captains, Captain A (59 years old, with a total flight time of 15,632 hours) and Captain B (56 years old, with a total flight time of 13,310 hours), performed self-administered breath tests at their hotel before duty at around 5 AM local time on December 1st, revealing alcohol levels exceeding the standards. Captain A requested to delay his shift by an hour due to illness, while Captain B proceeded to the airport.
Following additional tests at the airport, Captain B was found with alcohol in his system, necessitating multiple tests until a reading below the limit was confirmed at 8:15 AM. Conversely, Captain A, after re-testing at the hotel and obtaining a result below the limit, headed to the airport around 6 AM.
As a result, flight JL744 departed Melbourne at 10:31 AM, 3 hours and 11 minutes behind schedule, arriving in Tokyo/Narita at 5:57 PM, 2 hours and 42 minutes delayed. The flight carried 103 passengers, with a crew consisting of two captains, one co-pilot, and eight cabin attendants, totaling 11 crew members.
An internal investigation conducted on December 3rd revealed that Captains A & B had consumed alcohol exceeding the company regulations. Between 2 PM and 4 PM on November 30th, the day before their duty, they had visited a restaurant near their hotel and consumed two glasses of sparkling wine and two bottles of wine.
JAL has established internal guidelines that require pilots to have a residual alcohol concentration equivalent to four drinks (40 grams of pure alcohol) or less in their system 12 hours before the start of their shift. Any breath test resulting in an alcohol concentration over 0.00 milligrams per liter before duty leads to a suspension from work.
There have been previous incidents involving JAL pilots and alcohol, including a case on April 24th when a male captain scheduled to fly from Dallas/Fort Worth to Tokyo/Haneda on flight JL11 caused a disturbance at the hotel while intoxicated the day before, leading to the flight’s cancellation. In response to this and similar incidents, JAL received a stern warning from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism on May 27th and submitted measures to prevent recurrence on June 11th.
JAL reported the incident to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism on December 6th. “We take this situation seriously, especially following the severe warning received. We are conducting further interviews with the involved crew members and others to ensure the thorough implementation of measures to prevent a recurrence,” said a representative of JAL.
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