TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Japan Airlines` (JAL) co-pilot Katsutoshi Jitsukawa (42) was arrested in London before a flight to Tokyo on Thursday, October 26. JAL confirmed on the following Sunday that that Jitsukawa had been detained at Heathrow Airport under charges of violating British aviation law.

A Heathrow Airport bus driver said he smelled alcohol on Jitsukawa's and then reported to the police.

Apnews.com reported on Friday, November 2, that Jitsukawa admitted that on the night before the flight, he drank more alcohol than permitted by British laws.

The test result showed that Jitsukawa had 189 milligrams of alcohol inside his blood system, which is 10 times the limit allowed in Britain.

Jitsukawa will be detained until his sentence hearing on November 29.

Because of what happened, the Tokyo-bound flight had to be delayed for more than an hour, and the place had to be operated by only two pilots instead of three. JAL apologized for the delay and the incident.

The case came to light a day after All Nippon Airways apologized for five flight delays in Okinawa last week after a pilot got sick due to consuming plenty of alcohol the night before a flight.

Suci Sekarwati