Pilot to prison after alleged drunk flying
Dec 08, 2016
A Swedish helicopter pilot has been sentenced to prison by the Hålogaland Court of Appeals following an accident that occurred in the north of Norway on 15 August last year. The Norwegian news channel NRK states that the pilot had a high concentration of alcohol in his blood after the accident, but that he claimed that this was due to drinking a half bottle of Jägermeister in order to ease his pain after the accident.
The pilot was freed in the Nord-Troms District Court in April this year, but he was later sentenced to 60 days in prison by the Hålogaland Court of Appeals due to new information provided by an expert witness. The verdict came following the statement from the Norwegian Institute for Public Health, which explained that a body would not possible be able to consume the 2,29 per mille alcohol concentration found in the pilot’s blood after the accident in such a short time thereafter.
The accident itself occurred on 15 August 2015, as a commercially operated Swedish EC 120 was en-route from Alta (Norway) to Kiruna (Sweden) on a ferry flight. The pilot states that, when passing near Reisadalen in Troms County (northern Norway), he saw arctic foxes on the ground and decided to take a closer look. As the helicopter made a descending turn it ended up in a vortex ring state and hit the ground hard, according to the pilot. The aircraft was damaged, but the pilot, who was the only person onboard suffered some back pain in the accident.