Airline pilots regularly carry the lives of dozens or even hundreds of people in their hands, so it’s probably a good idea that they stay sober while performing their duties. One pilot in Indonesia obviously didn’t feel that his job was all that important, however, as he showed up for his flight completely and utterly wasted.
Tekad Purna was reportedly slated to fly an Airbus A320 out of Surabaya to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Wednesday, but showed up to the scheduled departure looking like a frat pledge who just bested a half-dozen beer bongs. Purna couldn’t even stand up straight, as was revealed by the security camera footage showing him at an airport checkpoint.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLb1_1akBh0
Purna drops his hat before making it to the security officers, and then proceeds to stumble his way through the metal detector before spilling the contents of his bag all over the floor. Despite his obviously impaired state, he still managed to make it to the cockpit without being stopped, and was only caught when passengers heard his drunken mumbles over the plane’s PA system.
Many passengers reportedly refused to fly and demanded a new pilot be brought in, while others simply cancelled their flights entirely. Purna was a pilot for the regional carrier Citilink, and the company’s president and production director have both resigned due to the overwhelming backlash from customers. An Airbus A320 can hold around 150 passengers plus the crew, and that’s a whole lot of lives to put at risk just because you’ve had a few too many brewskis.
