UK Edition
Pilots in court after being accused of being drunk in charge of a jet about to fly from Glasgow to Toronto
Two pilolts are behind bars after being charged with being drunk in charge of a passenger jet with 248 passengers on board that was due to fly from Scotland to Canada.
Jean Francois Perrault, 39, the captain of the Air Transat plane, and the first officer, Imran Zafar Syed, 37, both from Ontario, were refused bail and remanded in custody after appearing at Paisley Sheriff Court.
The two men made no plea during the short private hearing and are expected to appear before the court again within eight days.
They were arrested at Glasgow Airport on Monday on suspicion of being "impaired through alcohol", apparently after staff report concerns about their behaviour. They were also accused of threatening or abusive behaviour during the incident.
The pair were charged under section 93 of the Railway and Transport Safety Act, which covers alcohol and drugs in aviation and imposes limits lower than Scotland's drink-drive levels.
The flight was held up overnight while the passengers were put up in nearby hotels and eventually took off at 10.30am on Tuesday, almost 22 hours later than planned.
Air Transat apologised to customers and offered them compensation of 200 Canadian dollars off their next flight as a "goodwill gesture".
In a letter it said: "Please accept our sincere apologies for the disruption caused by the delay of your flight. While it is our policy to do everything within our power to ensure on-time performance, regrettably, this is not always the possible."
The company said the safety of its crews and passengers was its top priority and it would await the results of court proceedings before commenting further.
Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan, the Glasgow-Based TV presenters and interior designers, were on the flight and initially said they were “pleased to be alive” after learning why it had been delayed.
They said passengers were only told the plane could not take off due to "operational reasons".
Mr McAllister, who presents a TV show with his partner in Canada, said: “We are just really thankful and so grateful to whoever it was in the ground staff at Glasgow Airport who said ‘No, this flight can’t go.
“The mood in the plane is good. People are reassured and practical.
“It’s very sensitive times we live in so we figure passengers are happy that the situation was professionally resolved.”
Mr Ryan added that the delay was a “real hassle”, adding: "That flight for us is essentially our shuttle to work, we come backwards and forwards to Glasgow maybe 20 times, 30 times a year.
"It is one of those things, we have had a lot of really good experiences and one really awful one in light of what has allegedly happened.”
Other passengers voiced their anger over an apparent lack of an official explanation over the delay after the pilot and first officer were removed from the flight by police. Nick Davis, from Toronto, said they had been “ignored all day” by Air Transat.
Toronto resident Nick Davis tweeted that he had been "Ignored all day by @airtransat", while @sdp0313 tweeted: "TS725 22 hr delay. Thinking the op issue was more of a staff issue, police involved, why? Answers plz @airtransat."
Other passengers voiced their anger over an apparent lack of an official explanation over the delay after the pilot and first officer were removed from the flight by police. Nick Davis, from Toronto, said they had been “ignored all day” by Air Transat.
Apologising for the delay to Sean Brown, who had been on holiday in Scotland from Ontario, the airline tweeted "for operational reasons we have no choice".
Apologising for the delay to a Sean Brown, who had been on holiday in Scotland from Ontario, the airline tweeted "for operational reasons we have no choice".