Sacked Finnair pilot gets 3 months suspended jail

A court on Friday sentenced a former pilot of national flag carrier Finnair to three-month suspended imprisonment for reporting to work under the influence of alcohol.

Eastern Uusimaa District Court awarded the punishment in a verdict, which also cancelled his licence for piloting.

The pilot, who was sacked on charge of being allegedly drunk in mid-August and was charged with intoxication during duty.

He has been prevented from operating the aircraft for being "under the influence" of alcohol at Helsinki airport just before the flight scheduled for Rome on August 15.

A fellow Finnair worker informed the authorities of the suspected drunkenness of the pilot resulting in the flight delayed by about an hour and a half.

The Finnair authorities terminated the pilot after the incident.

The police alcometer test showed 1.5 per-mille for the pilot. The rest of the crew gave zero levels.

According to the Finnish law, the per mille limit for prosecution in aviation is 0.5 and could bring fines or imprisonment of up to two years.