It is normally a moment of cheery reassurance when an airline pilot greets passengers during preparations for take-off. But Alexander Cheplevsky sparked panic on flight Aeroflot 315 when he began to speak.
His slurred and garbled comments ahead of a flight from Moscow to New York convinced passengers that he was drunk. When he apparently switched from Russian into unintelligible English, fear turned to revolt.
Flight attendants initially ignored passengers’ complaints and threatened to expel them from the Boeing 767 jet unless they stopped “making trouble”. As the rebellion spread, Aeroflot representatives boarded the aircraft to try to calm down the 300 passengers.
One sought to reassure them by announcing that it was “not such a big deal” if the pilot was drunk because the aircraft practically flew itself.
Mr Cheplevsky did little to ease passengers’ fears by refusing to leave the cockpit to show that he was sober. When he was finally persuaded to face them, witnesses said that he appeared unsteady on his feet and had bloodshot eyes.
Ms Sobchak told Ekho Moskvy radio a few days later that she believed the pilot had been in no condition to fly. She said: “It took him three attempts to say the words ‘duration of flight’. Even after Aeroflot personnel asked him to do so, he barely made it out of the cabin.”
An Aeroflot spokeswoman said that tests had revealed no trace of alcohol in the pilot’s blood. She blamed “mass psychosis” among passengers for the decision to replace the crew, although the company later issued a statement saying that Mr Cheplevsky could have suffered a stroke just before the flight.
Here is the epitome of a cultural difference. In the USA the pilot is immediately placed on leave and they try to cover over the mess. In Russia they blame the passengers.
Found by Joe Carlson.
So where was the co-pilot in all of this?
So much for experimenting with Vodka as J-fuel.
http://airplane-pictures.net/images/uploaded-images/2008-3/11958.jpg
In Russia you don’t go looking for the party, the party come looking for you!
No big deal, the planes practically fly themselves.
Good for the passengers. If I was one of those passengers i’d probably do the same.
“When he apparently switched from Russian into unintelligible English, fear turned to revolt”.
How could they tell? Russian sounds unintelligible to me!! I remember flying out of Russia and when we passed the Finnish border “Out came the vodka to a big cheer!” #3 has it right!!! I was handed a 1/2 liter glass of straight booze!
Vodka’s like vitamins to a russian. Like spinach for popeye. I’d have less confidence in a russian pilot who wasn’t drunk. Because he’s probrably hung over…
“Here is the epitome of a cultural difference. In the USA the pilot is immediately placed on leave and they try to cover over the mess.”
OK, and you SIT in the plane for 6 hours UNTIL the NEW pilot arrives..
It’s not the drunk Russian pilots you need to worry about, it’s the sober ones that can’t fly…
Wonder if “they” ever have families who fly?
RBG
Russian Pilot = Drunk Pilot
I have been to Russia, everyone is drunk there all the time, even the children. The attitude is “as long as you can perform your job, being drunk is your own personal business”.
“One sought to reassure them by announcing that it was ‘not such a big deal’ if the pilot was drunk because the aircraft practically flew itself.”
That statement is hilarious (except to passengers).
OK, who wants to fly? YOU down a six pack in front of a 15 minute aerobatic routine. I’ll hand you the stick while we’re inverted at a 45 degree angle towards Terra Firma. I’ve got a parachute, you don’t. Have at it.
“Plane flies itself.” Har! Then why bother with crew?
Sober passengers are nothing but trouble. They complain about every little thing. So what if the pilot is a little tipsy? There’s nothing to hit up there.
Good thing it happened in Russia. In the States, those pesky passengers would have been arrested as terrorists!
A bunch of years ago, I flew a small regional airline out of Tajikistan and, just after takeoff, the steward walked down the aisle passing out what I thought were cups of water. A sip made me realize it was vodka. I was in about the third row and, when he had finished passing out the cups to the passengers, he took the remaining several doses into the cockpit.
I’m not much of a drinker but I downed every drop of my vodka!
While the plane may fly itself, it doesn’t land, talk to air-traffic controllers, or land by itself.
The problem wasn’t the drunk pilot. It’s the sober passengers every time. Aeroflot should have had the passengers drink as a prerequisite to be allowed to board the plane. None of this would have happened then. The only downside is the accidental mile-high pregnancies.
Mr. Fusion,
Actually the plane does land by itself. What it doesn’t do yet is judge and decide by itself, however. 😉
Good for the passengers, they complained… The pilot was still still awake so he could do mistakes.