The complaint against a commercial pilot of Binter Canarias for several episodes of alleged alcohol consumption on dates close to flight services has reached the Provincial Prosecutor's Office of Madrid, as 'ElConstitucional.es' has learned. The complainant, who in September had already asked the State Air Safety Agency (AESA) to investigate the facts and assess the precautionary suspension of the license, assures that he formalized the criminal complaint at the request of the Prosecutor's Office itself.
According to the document accessed by this newspaper, the Prosecutor's Office of the Community of Madrid opened an administrative file after receiving an initial communication and indicated that he could file the complaint with the Provincial. In it, he requests that Binter's records be collected and that the commander who shared service with the pilot in January be questioned to verify if he flew after having drunk the night before.
The complainant asks the Public Prosecutor's Office to contrast the facts with Binter's rosters, flight records, and incident reports. He also asks that the commander who shared service with the pilot in the episode that the document places in January be identified and questioned. According to the version included in the complaint, the pilot would have gone to work after having consumed alcohol the night before.
The document also asks the airline to report whether it opened an internal investigation, removed the pilot from flight scheduling, or transferred information to AESA. The complainant requests that the documentation he already submitted to the Agency be incorporated and that the WhatsApp conversations he provided by notarial act be examined.
From the complaint to AESA to the criminal route
The first complaint, filed on September 14 and advanced by 'ElConstitucional.es', asked AESA to investigate whether several episodes of alleged alcohol consumption and lack of rest were related to flight services and to assess the precautionary suspension of the license. The document also included allegations about possible drug consumption and requested to verify the circumstances in which an aeronautical medical examination was postponed.
One of the episodes included in the document is set between January 17 and 18, 2026. According to the complaint, the pilot had been consuming alcohol until approximately five in the morning and subsequently went to perform a flight service. The commander accompanying him would have noticed, according to the version transferred to AESA, signs compatible with a state of intoxication and would have asked him if he had been drinking. The pilot would have responded no.
The complaint adds that, during the service, he would have had to leave the cockpit to vomit. For this reason, the complainant requests that AESA identify and interview the commander of that flight and demand from Binter all documentation related to the planning and execution of the service to verify if the described events correspond to what happened.
The document also places other episodes between December 2025 and April 2026, including night outs before standby services, nights of alcohol consumption close to workdays, and conversations related to medical examinations and sick leave.
The conversations provided—made public before a notary—along with the complaint include several exchanges that the complainant considers relevant to prove the pattern he describes. In one of them, dated December 13, 2025, the pilot himself, identified in the messages as J.J.R.M., writes after a night out: "Pff remind me not to go out the day before a flight again."
His interlocutor replies: "You were super drunk" and adds that he had tried to prevent him from continuing to drink: "I was trying to stop you from drinking more." The pilot replies: "Well, not super super drunk either" and clarifies: "I was happy."
With the criminal complaint, the complainant asks the Prosecutor's Office to verify if these episodes occurred and assess if they have criminal relevance. If it finds evidence after the checks, it requests that the proceedings be transferred to the competent court. The facts attributed to the pilot are still pending verification.
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