Ukrainian Plane Crew Arrested On Suspicion Of Intending To Fly Drunk

BERGEN, Norway -- Norwegian authorities detained the captain, co-captain and five other crew members of a Ukrainian giant An-22 cargo plane on suspicion of intending to fly while drunk, the Associated Press reports.


An-22 cargo plane
The seven Ukrainians were taken into custody at Flesland Airport, which serves Norway’s second largest city of Bergen, after airport security officials believed that they smelled of alcohol before an early morning flight.

The crew was being blood-tested and would be interrogated, Asbjoern Andersen, operations leader for the district police, said by telephone.

The Ukrainian embassy had also been informed, he added.

The suspects were part of a 17-member crew on the An-22, which is the world’s largest propellor plane. The planes were built in Russia during the Soviet era.

Police said the plane’s ownership was not immediately clear.

The aircraft was in western Norway to pick up oil industry equipment for transport to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

Source: MosNews