An airline wants cockpit crew to freshen up their act - after it turned out two pilots accused of being drunk on duty just had bad breath. Virgin Atlantic now fears the oral hygiene of its flying staff is jeopardising its reputation.
Twice police have been called to a flight minutes before take-off following reports of drunk pilots. Hundreds of passengers watched aghast as the cockpit member was escorted off the jet in handcuffs.
An incident at Heathrow in April was investigated but the pilot later cleared when - according to a Virgin spokeswoman - he was found to suffer from halitosis.
But the airline was rocked again last month when police led a 42-year-old first officer away from a Miami-bound A340-600. The 266-passenger plane was taxiing towards the runway when another airline worker raised the alarm after reportedly smelling alcohol on his breath.
He was arrested under Section 94 of the Railways and Transport Act 2003 but again tests revealed he was simply suffering from halitosis.
A Virgin source said: "It's more than a little embarrassing for this to have happened twice now. It makes terrible headlines and might put off people flying with us. We are seriously considering ordering our pilots to freshen up in the cockpit in terms of their hygiene. We might even be forced to include mints as part of our compulsory uniform."
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