Autopilot: Pilot Admits To Flying Drunk (Or Trying To)

By Sadie Stein | January 5, 2010 | 5:30pm

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A United Airlines Pilot detained at Heathrow when a colleague smelled alcohol on his breath has admitted to showing up for work over the legal limit:

51-year-old Erwin Washington, of Colorado, was due to pilot a 767 from London to Chicago when his colleague raised the alarm. Washington was arrested and found to be three times over the limit for flying. He has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in England next month. The maximum sentences in such cases is two years in jail.