A Heathrow pilot was arrested by armed police after airport staff warned they feared he had drunk too much to fly.

Michael Harr, 62, was taken off the Jet Airways flight to Mumbai by officers and subsequently failed a breath test at 9.30 in the morning.

Airport staff tipped off police when they smelt alcohol as he passed through security.

Mr Harr, a former United States marine, was due to be first officer on the Boeing 777 flight to India on Sunday. An airport source said: "Security were immediately suspicious about him and deemed that he wasn't fit to fly.

"He was arrested and now faces losing his job. He is only a couple of years away from retirement and has blown everything."

Airline pilots are banned from drinking alcohol less than eight hours before flying and are deemed unfit to fly if they are a quarter of the drink-drive limit.

Mr Harr can be seen posing on Facebook in the cockpit of a plane he was piloting. His profile read: "This old marine is still flying.... after over 40+ years. Do it 'till I get it right." The source told The Sun that Mr Harr, who lives in Griffin, in the US state of Georgia, had been partying with other members of crew.

"Apparently he and some of his younger colleagues had been out on Saturday night," the source said.

Jet Airways said flight 9W119 had not been significantly delayed.

A spokesman said: "The first pilot was replaced and passengers were only delayed by 10 minutes."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "A 62-year-old man was arrested for being over the limit. He has been bailed until February."

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