Sunwing Airlines pilot faces impaired charges

Calgary police have arrested and charged a pilot who was allegedly found drunk and unconscious in the cockpit of a plane before it took off.

Transport Canada is reviewing the record of the Sunwing Airlines pilot who police say blew three times the legal limit.

Police allege the pilot boarded a Boeing 737 in Calgary, Saturday morning, for a flight that was scheduled to make stops in Regina and Winnipeg before continuing to Mexico.

Officers say the crew at the gate noticed the pilot’s strange behaviour before it took flight. The plane was carrying 99 passengers and six crew members.

According to the airline, the captain was immediately escorted off the aircraft.

Police arrested and charged 37-year-old Miroslav Gronych from Slovakia with impaired. He is scheduled to appear in court January 5.