Intoxicated Sunwing pilot found to be three times over legal limit
There are a number of risks associated with traveling to exotic locations, but passengers of a Sunwing flight to Mexico on New Year's Eve came close to facing one of the most fatal possibilities out there. Miroslav Gronych, a 37-year-old Slovakian pilot who was in Canada on a work visa and scheduled be at the helm of that particular Sunwing flight, was found to have a blood alcohol level over three times above the legal limit.
Gronych was immediately taken into custody and charged with the offences of having care and control of an aircraft while impaired and doing so with a blood alcohol level greater than .08. Thankfully, the checks and balances that are designed to prevent this sort of event from occurring were successful in identifying Gronych's impairment. Although in this case, it appears to have been relatively easy to spot, as his co-pilot found him unconscious in the cockpit pre-flight.
In total there were 99 passengers on board along with a handful of crew members. Before it was expected to arrive in Cancun, the plane had been scheduled to stop in Regina and pick up additional passengers after taking off in Calgary. That stop did take place, but it was complicated by inclement weather conditions, something that could have prompted some horrific possibilities if the Gronych had been intoxicated and somehow managed to be on board for takeoff.
After Gronych was discovered as being in an unfit state, Sunwing was able to quickly track down a replacement pilot. In a statement, company spokesman Jaclyn Grossman said that Sunwing was "appreciative of our crew's diligence in handling this very unfortunate matter [....and] very apologetic for any upset this has caused and would like to assure our customers that safety remains our utmost priority."
Meanwhile, more charges are expected to be on the way for Gronych.