KIEV, February 27 (RIA Novosti) - A Ukrainian pilot has been sentenced by a Norwegian court to five months imprisonment for trying to fly in an inebriated condition, the foreign ministry press service said Tuesday.
In January, seven Ukrainian crewmembers about to take off from the Bergen Airport were stopped on suspicion of being drunk. Norwegian police arrested them after an examination confirmed their blood alcohol level to be above the legal limit.
The captain, who was in command of an An-22 cargo plane carrying American oil equipment to Azerbaijan, was detained, and the other crewmembers released.
"The lawyers will appeal the court's sentence," the press service said.
The Ukrainian Embassy said the captain behaved calmly and had no complaints about his detention.
Earlier, experts predicted the offenders could have been sentenced to two years imprisonment or made to pay a $70,000 fine under Norwegian law.
