Another ANA unit involved in drinking incident

February 2, 2019

Tokyo--Air Japan, a unit of ANA Holdings Inc. <9202>, has said it replaced a copilot with another one after alcohol was detected from his breath before his duty Friday.

The incident happened on the very day the transport ministry hit ANA Wings, another ANA unit, with a business improvement order over a drinking incident involving a pilot last month.

According to Air Japan, the copilot in his 40s, who was scheduled to board a flight departing from Narita International Airport near Tokyo to Yangon at 11 a.m. (2 a.m. GMT), drank about a half of a 750-mililitter bottle of vodka at home Thursday night, violating the company's rules on drinking amounts.

A breath check conducted at Narita around 9:40 a.m. detected an alcohol level of 0.25 milligram per liter of breath.

Two additional breath checks within 10 minutes afterward detected the same alcohol level. The flight was delayed for 40 minutes due to a runway shutdown.

"We apologize for causing an incident like this at a time strict discipline is required," Air Japan said.

In the ANA Wings incident, the pilot drank alcohol beverages the day before his duty and made false reports on his alcohol consumption amount. He resigned as requested by the company. Jiji Press