A flight attendant has been fired and charged after blood tests showed that she was eight times over the legal drinking limit on a UK-bound flight from Dubai.
Stephanie Partington, 24, was arrested at on April 23 Birmingham International Airport when her Emirates Boeing 777 flight touched down after fellow crew members noticed her strange behavior.
Tests later revealed her blood alcohol level was eight times the legal limit for flight attendants.
Partington was fired from Emirates and charged under the Civil Aviation Act at the Solihull Magistrates Court in the West Midlands on Monday.
She pleaded guilty of being under the influence of alcohol to an extent that her actions were impaired while working as a cabin crew member. She was fined a £110 ($174) with £85 ($135) costs and a £15 ($23) victim surcharge.
Fiona Davis, prosecuting, said that the captain called police when he suspected that Partington was drunk. She was being very loud on the seven-hour flight and had to be asked to quiet down.
"At the end of the flight she was required to fill in paperwork and the purser noticed her handwriting was very bad and what she wrote was illegible," Davis told the Daily Mail.
"The purser was concerned about her behavior," Davis continued.
Partington was arrested when she failed a police breathalyzer test however she claimed that she had not had a drink for eight hours.
A blood test revealed that Partington's blood alcohol level was eight time above the limit for flight attendants and twice the legal limit for driving.
Partington claims that she was supposed to have a rest day in Dubai so she went out the night before and drank. However she was asked to work on the flight the next day on short notice. Partington, who has just joined Emirates, wanted to make a good impression and agreed to work the flight. Being from Liverpool, she also wanted to go to the UK to visit her friends and family.
Partington and Emirates refused to comment on the incident after the ruling.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
