F-16 pilots sounded alarm: Thought full air traffic controller was ill

Saithan

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The 60-year-old air traffic controller did not feel unable to work, even though he had a blood alcohol level of 2.62.

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Stock Photo: »I bought four bottles of beer. It was in Føtex on the way to work, "says the 60-year-old air traffic controller in the Court in Sønderborg.
Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix

Friday, December 18, 2020, at 10.04
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An air traffic controller from Skrydstrup Air Base admits to having drunk before he showed up for work on 2 April and while he was on duty.
He explains this on Friday morning, when he gives an explanation at the Court in Sønderborg.

‘I bought four bottles of beer. It was in Føtex on the way to work, "says the 60-year-old man.
These were 10.5 percent Masterbrew beers, and they were half-liter bottles.
One of the beers was drunk before putting on his uniform on the way up to the control tower. He was to meet at 8 o'clock.
Two other beers were drunk in the service in the period up to 11.15am.
The fourth beer was not drunk, according to the defendant, who himself estimates to have a combat weight of about 100 kilos.

The night before, he had shared two bottles of wine with his wife.
It was two F-16 pilots with whom the air traffic controller communicated during the service who sounded the alarm.
Based on the communication with the air traffic controller over the radio, they thought he was ill.
They contacted the guard at the air station, who took a blood sample on the man, after which he was arrested.
Skrydstrup Air Base is the base for Fighter Wing Skrydstrup, which houses Danish F-16 fighter jets.

The military prosecutor's office has calculated the man's alcohol per mille at 2.62.
But the air traffic controller did not feel particularly affected.
“It surprised me a lot that such a high per mille was measured. I immediately felt I could handle the service, ”he says.
The Medical Examiner's Council - the country's highest medical body - has assessed that the man was also affected when he drove a car on the way to work.
But the defendant denies it.

He also denies that he generally has an alcohol problem.
The man explains that he bought the beers because he had been stressed in the time before.
This is partly due to some very long shifts of up to 24 hours duration and challenges on the home front, he has explained.
The prosecutor is demanding that the man be sentenced to prison and denied the right to act as an air traffic controller.
The court is expected to decide the case later in the day.

 

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