Drunk Aeroflot pilot?

Pilotguy

737-3,5,7,8,9,900ER CA
I've learned not to believe everything I read in paper, and even less online, but this is disturbing:

Times Online
Feb 3, 2009

It is normally a moment of cheery reassurance when an airline pilot greets passengers during preparations for take-off. But Alexander Cheplevsky sparked panic on flight Aeroflot 315 when he began to speak.
His slurred and garbled comments ahead of a flight from Moscow to New York convinced passengers that he was drunk. When he apparently switched from Russian into unintelligible English, fear turned to revolt.
Flight attendants initially ignored passengers' complaints and threatened to expel them from the Boeing 767 jet unless they stopped "making trouble". As the rebellion spread, Aeroflot representatives boarded the aircraft to try to calm down the 300 passengers.
One sought to reassure them by announcing that it was "not such a big deal" if the pilot was drunk because the aircraft practically flew itself.

Mr Cheplevsky did little to ease passengers' fears by refusing to leave the cockpit to show that he was sober. When he was finally persuaded to face them, witnesses said that he appeared unsteady on his feet and had bloodshot eyes.

"I don't think there's anyone in Russia who doesn't know what a drunk person looks like," Katya Kushner, one of the passengers, told the Moscow Times, which had a reporter travelling on the flight.
"At first, he was looking at us like we were crazy. Then, when we wouldn't back down, he said 'I'll sit here quietly in a corner. We have three more pilots. I won't even touch the controls, I promise'."

Aeroflot's bad day got worse when it emerged that the socialite and television host Ksenia Sobchak was on board. Ms Sobchak, one of Russia's best-known personalities, demanded that all four pilots be replaced.
The airline finally relented and summoned new pilots to fly the jet to New York three hours late. More than 100 passengers passed the time as they waited by signing a petition declaring that they believed Mr Cheplevsky had been drunk.

Ms Sobchak told Ekho Moskvy radio a few days later that she believed the pilot had been in no condition to fly. She said: "It took him three attempts to say the words 'duration of flight'. Even after Aeroflot personnel asked him to do so, he barely made it out of the cabin."
An Aeroflot spokeswoman said that tests had revealed no trace of alcohol in the pilot's blood. She blamed "mass psychosis" among passengers for the decision to replace the crew, although the company later issued a statement saying that Mr Cheplevsky could have suffered a stroke just before the flight.
The pilot told the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda that he had been celebrating his 54th birthday with friends the night before the flight on December 28, but insisted that he not been drinking.
The row is a public relations setback for an airline that has worked hard to overcome its "Aeroflop" image. In the Soviet era, it was known for its unsmiling air hostesses, poor customer service and inedible food.
It came just months after an Aeroflot subsidiary was involved in Russia's worst air disaster for two years, when a jet crashed in the Urals city of Perm killing 88 passengers and crew. The airline banned subsidiaries from using its name and logo after the crash in September, saying it wanted to protect its safety record.

The newspaper Kommersant reported this week that investigators had found traces of alcohol in the blood of the captain who flew that jet. But they were unable to state whether it was the reason that he felt "sickly" shortly before surrendering the controls to another crew member as the plane was due to land.
 
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Pilotguy,
Ms Sobchak is famous "bad girl" like your Paris Hilton. She just wanted to spark a new scandal related to her name... I cannot see any other reason.
And Russian Federal Air Transport agency denied today that alcohol was found in the blood of the dead Aeroflot-Nord captain.
So it is just dirty rumour...
 
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Историк,
Thank you very much for clarifying this. I thought it should have been the case.:rolleyes:
 
Pilotguy,
Sobchak is a bitching bitch. All is said...
 
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I don't sure, but i heard this pilot (Alexander Cheplevsky ) is dead. It was the reason heart seizure.
Can you tie that? Or it's only gossips?
 
Drunk Aeroflot pilot

Sad news... RIP..


But does it mean that airline pilots can combine AirForce service and job with the airline? Is this voluntary or mandatory service?

Looks quite unusual for the rest of the world..
 
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Pilotguy сказал(а):
although the company later issued a statement saying that Mr Cheplevsky could have suffered a stroke just before the flight.
Just before - what stage? In any way he had to refuse of the flight and ask for the medical assistance. (I know, I know!!! It is not for Russia's reality. Pilot asking for doctor is killing himself)
However AFL had choosen that scenario as a less harmfull. Simple unprofessional way to look after ones health. Other choices could confirm the drunk staff.
 
Just for the reference of those speculating about Russian pilots flying intoxicated, a news story from the last week on AA. While we only hear gossip and speculations about Russian pilots, not confirmed by anyone, there are actual cases with the US guys, which go unnoticed by western media.

Pilot "over alcohol limit" before flight

Thu May 21, 2009 3:12pm BST

[+] LONDON (Reuters) - A 57-year old pilot has been arrested at Heathrow airport for failing a breathalyser test just before he was due to fly an American Airlines jet to Chicago with 204 passengers aboard.
A spokeswoman for the airline said on Thursday the pilot was stopped on Wednesday morning before boarding flight AA87.

Police had been alerted by concerned airport security staff.

"An American Airlines pilot was arrested at London Heathrow airport yesterday having failed a breathalyser test," the airline said in a statement.

"American Airlines' primary concern is for the safety and comfort of our passengers and crews," it added.

The company has strict policies on alcohol and substance abuse and holds its employees to the highest standards."

The unnamed pilot has been bailed to appear at a UK police station in July.

(Reporting by Stefano Ambrogi)
 
m,
Quite a few. I can instantly remember at least 3 from the top of my mind: a pretty recent one in Milwaukee, this Heathrow accident, and one in Miami, when pilots actually were jailed for attempting to fly plane with 177 passengers on board. And I am sure there are dozens of these stories about crew members in the US - never heard of a single _confirmed_ case involving Russian pilots.

Reuters, which is not exactly Mass Media - rather a news agency (you know the difference I assume).
 
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