PIA suspends drunk captain, stewards arrested in Britain

Pakistan's national carrier has suspended a pilot who was in charge of a flight and three stewards after they were all arrested by British police for being drunk.

Pilot Irfan Faiz, captain of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight to Islamabad on Wednesday, was arrested from the cockpit by security personnel at the airport serving the cities of Leeds and Bradford on suspicion of being drunk.

West Yorkshire Police are investigating the case, PIA officials who did not want to be named told PTI.

The PIA management immediately suspended 54-year-old Faiz for "violation of rules leading towards becoming unfit for flying".

PIA spokesman Mashhood Tajwar said due to the lack of any alternate captain, the passengers of the flight had to make a night stop at Leeds.

"Later, the flight departed with a delay of 15 hours. The pilot is still in the custody of British police for further investigation," Tajwar said.

In a separate incident, police arrested three PIA flight stewards in Manchester for misbehaving with a British woman at a hotel. The stewards too were reportedly found drunk.

Tajwar said the PIA management had also suspended the stewards. "They were taken into custody by Manchester Police following a complaint from a British lady. The investigation is still in process," he said.

"PIA is not responsible for violation of rules or code of conduct by its employees. PIA will never provide legal or any kind of assistance nor support for individual's act of violation," he said.