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Drunk pilot arrested at London airport just prior to flight to Chicago
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A United Airlines pilot who was turned in by another employee of the carrier was arrested Monday at London's Heathrow Airport shortly before he was due to fly his assigned flight to Chicago. Authorities said that the pilot was taken into custody for having too much alcohol in his system.
Erwin Vermont Washington, 51, is the third American pilot to be arrested for being over the limit in the last 13 months. United flight 949 was already fully boarded and within minutes of departure when airport authorities were advised of the situation. Scotland Yard, England's equivalent of the FBI was called in and arrested him. He is due to appear in a London court on November 20 and could be sentenced to as much as two years in prison, a fine, or both.
United has removed Washington from active service pending the outcome of the investigation. Back in May of this year an American Airlines pilot was also removed from the cockpit of a flight scheduled to fly to Chicago and was determined to be under the influence of alcohol. Another United pilot was arrested for the same offense in October of last year.
