Singapore Airlines cancelled flight chaos as pilot fails alcohol test
A Singapore Airlines pilot has been asked to step down after failing an alcohol test on the morning he was due to fly an international flight.
The airline was forced to cancel the flight from Melbourne to Wellington in New Zealand on Saturday morning and the return flight the same day.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, a spokesman from the airline confirmed the last minute cancellation stating the reason as an “operating crew member being deemed unfit to fly.”
“The Civil Aviation Authority officials undertook a random drug and alcohol test of all crew prior to them starting their pre-flight checks,” he said.
“The pilot in question did not pass the test due to having a higher than suitable blood alcohol limit.”
According to Stuff, the pilot had a two-day layover in Melbourne prior to the scheduled flight after flying in from Singapore.
He has now returned back to Singapore where a thorough investigation is underway and has been suspended from all duties.
“We will also work closely with the Australian and Singaporean authorities to ensure they are supplied the information they require,” said the spokesman.
Frustrated passengers lashed out on social media after they were left stranded without a flight.
Some were flying to Wellington for the All Blacks rugby union Test match against South Africa, with one fan travelling all the way from Tokyo for the event.
One passenger tweeted: “Care to explain why your captain (i.e. most experienced person on the aircraft) of SQ247 waits until boarding time to decide they’re too ill/drunk to fly? Will miss the All Blacks rugby match I bought tickets for and flew to WLG from NRT to see.”
He was met with a reply saying: “At least he didn’t fly! Better to be down here wishing you were up there, then being up there wishing you were down here.”
This list of complaints was long, as another wrote, “Terrible service on your cancelled Melbourne to Wellington flight this morning. No options given to stranded customers except to call your useless booking line! Hotel fees and taxi fares all lost not to mention a day of holiday. Appalling service.”
One passenger was left stranded at Melbourne Airport for six hours.
Singapore Airlines has issued an apology for the inconvenience passengers were forced to face.
“We sincerely apologise to those affected by the cancellation of these flights. However, the safety of our customers and crew is our highest priority,” the spokesman said.
“We have worked with customers whose travel was inconvenienced to find suitable alternate travel arrangements as quickly as possible.”