A Japan Airlines flight was canceled after the pilot got drunk at a Dallas hotel bar and police were called

• A Japan Airlines flight from Dallas to Tokyo was canceled after the captain got drunk in a hotel.
• A replacement pilot could not be found in time for the morning departure.

A Japan Airlines flight from Dallas to Tokyo was canceled after a captain got drunk at a hotel bar and received a warning from police, the airline said, according to Japanese media.

The Mainichi, which cited a statement from Japan Airlines, reported that the captain dined in Dallas last week with other crew members.

According to the outlet, the airline said he then continued to drink throughout the evening in the hotel lounge where the crew were staying and, later, in his hotel room.

At around 2 a.m. on Tuesday, a hotel employee asked the group to be quiet, but the pilot's disorderly conduct prompted a call to the police, The Mainichi reported.

According to statements provided by the airline to Japanese media, police questioned the man and warned him not to cause further problems.

A spokesperson for Japan Airlines told Business Insider by email that the pilot received a "verbal warning from the police upon the hotel's request."

The spokesperson said the decision to cancel the flight stemmed from the need to assess the captain's physical and mental well-being, not because the pilot was under the influence at the time of the flight.

"It is true that the captain consumed alcohol," the spokesperson said, while noting that "there was a sufficient interval between alcohol consumption and the scheduled duty time."

Japan Airlines told The Mainichi it could not find a replacement pilot in time for the Wednesday morning departure.

Data from the flight-tracking website FlightAware shows that the flight, due to depart at 11:05 a.m. local time on Wednesday, was canceled.

The airline spokesperson told BI that it arranged for passengers to travel on alternative flights.

"We are fully aware of the seriousness of this situation," the spokesperson said. "In order to prevent such an incident from happening again, we will thoroughly implement measures to prevent recurrence and work to restore trust in our airline."

Although a relatively rare occurrence, there have been several recent incidents of pilots reporting for duty under the influence.

In March, a Delta Air Lines captain admitted to turning up for a flight while over the legal alcohol limit.

He was arrested after failing a breathalyzer test in June last year, and was later sentenced to 10 months in prison.

In 2023, a United Airlines pilot who showed up to work under the influence was handed a six-month suspended prison sentence by a French court.

Le Parisien reported that he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.132%, more than six times the legal limit for pilots in Europe and three times the Federal Aviation Administration's limit.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, a pilot's ability to fly a plane is significantly impaired by alcohol use.

It said that the number of serious errors pilots commit dramatically increases at or above concentrations of 0.04% blood alcohol.

Tuesday, April 30, 2024: This article has been updated with a response from Japan Airlines.