Pilot detained after being found drunk in cockpit

[Photo: Courtesy]

The co-pilot of a Portuguese airline was detained in Stuttgart after being found drunk in the cockpit just before take-off, German police and prosecutors said on Saturday (March 24).

German police entered the cockpit and found the 40-year-old in a "highly intoxicated condition" on Friday evening, a statement said.

An airport official had sounded the alert after finding the pilot "reeking of alcohol and walking unsteadily", it said.

Stuttgart prosecutors immediately suspended the co-pilot's flying licence and fixed a 10,000 euro (S$16,256.16) bail.

German authorities did not name the airline, but a flight of the Portuguese carrier TAP, due to leave Stuttgart for Lisbon on Friday night with 106 passengers, was cancelled.

File photo of a pilot holding his cap at an airport in Rome September 24, 2008. (Photo: Reuters)