Virgin pilot found over the limit before commercial flight loses appeal

A Virgin pilot who failed a breath test before he was due to fly out of Canberra with 96 passengers has lost a bid to clear his name. The pilot was selected for the test at Canberra Airport at about 8am on the morning of his birthday in August 2013. He had just arrived and was in the Virgin crew area sitting at a computer when a Civil Aviation Safety Authority officer approached him. The pilot was due to later fly a commercial flight between Canberra, Brisbane, and Townsville with up to 96 passengers on board. The initial test was positive, meaning a second, confirmatory test needed to be done 15 minutes later. The pilot would give evidence that he'd had two vodka, lime and sodas, shared a bottle of red wine, and another three glasses of wine, before going to bed at 10pm the night before. The confirmatory test revealed a blood alcohol reading of 0.059, which is more than the legal driving limit, let alone the legal aviation limit of 0.02. The pilot was grounded, and was never allowed to fly for Virgin again. <br/>