by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:00 AM ET, Mon August 22, 2016
On Friday, a pilot for SriLankan Airlines has been suspended for allegedly being drunk as he prepared to captain a flight from Germany to Sri Lanka.
According to the Agence France-Presse, the SriLankan Airlines pilot arrived at Frankfurt Airport to fly 270 passengers and four crew members to Colombo, Sri Lanka, when other members of the cabin crew noticed that the man was allegedly drunk.
The crew was forced to block the pilot from taking control of the plane, and he was reported to the authorities. As a result of the pilot being taken off the flight, the passengers were forced to endure a 15-hour delay while SriLankan Airlines sent another pilot to Frankfurt Airport.
The pilot has been suspended while the incident is being fully investigated.
The airline apologized on its official website. In a statement, SriLankan Airlines said," Due to unavailability of a flight crew member, the aircraft was unable to leave Frankfurt as scheduled last afternoon."
SriLankan Airlines is expected to discontinue service to many European destinations in October, including the Frankfurt airport where the incident took place.
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