Copilot peeing in public cancels JAL flight from Honolulu

Of all the reasons to have your flight canceled, I’m pretty sure this one is high on the “no frikkin way!” list.

The copilot of JAL flight 75 from Honolulu to Narita was arrested by local police for urinating in a park. The copilot had consumed a bottle of wine and 5 bottles of beer, when the urge “to go” was clearly greater than the urge to find an appropriate place to relive himself.

When a police officer saw him, the copilot was arrested and delivered to the police station. He was then detained for two nights before being released after paying a $25 fine.

JAL issued a statement declaring that they “deeply apologize for causing inconvenience to the passengers”.

My main concern is why a copilot is consuming so much alcohol. The only upside is that he was arrested on Tuesday, and his flight was not scheduled to depart till Thursday, leaving him plenty of time to get the alcohol out of his system.

You can see the actual flight status, and its cancellation over at Flightstats.com. The passengers had to be rebooked on other flights. If I were a passenger on this plane, I’d be mighty pissed (pardon the pun). I’ve heard a lot of reasons for a cancellation or delay, but a urinating copilot is a first.