An on-duty United Airlines flight attendant drank 10 times the legal limit on a San Francisco to London jet and was hospitalized upon landing, according to reports. But she escaped jail time.
Margit Lake, 56, allegedly downed multiple miniature bottles of vodka after smuggling them onto the flight, People reported Wednesday. Her blood test measured 216 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, according to the Independent, translating to a percentage read of .216 and an elevated risk of blacking out on top of deteriorated functions.
Lake’s attorney Ben Lansbury said in a United Kingdom court she was “dealing with grief” and family estrangement.
“She had the alcohol because she needed to calm down. It was something of a shock to her as to what happened. She deeply regrets what happened,” Lansbury said, per The Daily Mail. “Ms. Lake has been attending Alcoholics Anonymous almost daily since the last hearing. She is supported by colleagues here in the U.K. and they sit in the back of the court.”
Lake, who admitted to performing an aviation function while intoxicated on the Oct. 17 flight to Heathrow, got off without a jail sentence and was fined the British equivalent of about $2,800, according to the Mail.
