Miroslav Gronych, 37, was three times above the legal blood alcohol limit when he was found slumped at the controls on New Year's Eve
Slovakian Miroslav Gronych was found slumped at the controls of the Sunwing Airlines jet in Canada on New Years Eve .
The 37-year-old was due to fly the passenger plane from Calgary, Alberta, to Cancun, Mexico, with stops in in Regina, Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg, Manitoba.
But he was arrested after crew noticed him "behaving oddly before he became unconscious in the cockpit".
He was escorted off the plane and taken into custody where he was found to be three times above the legal blood alcohol limit .
Appearing in court in Calgary on Monday, Gronych said: "I can't even describe how ashamed I am.
"My kids will be punished for my mistakes."
The court heard how police spotted his pilot's wings were upside down on his uniform and a maid discovered an empty bottle of vodka in his hotel room.
Gronych was an hour late for check-in, claiming he had got lost going through security.
The Sunwing Airlines 737-800 plane was due to carry 99 passengers and six crew.
His defence asked for a three to six-month jail term while the prosecution requested a year.
Prosecutor Rose Greenwood told the court: "Mr Gronych put the lives of 105 people at risk.
"Hopefully he will never be permitted to fly again."
In his defence, lawyer Susan Karpa said Gronych felt unwell and had not been able to sleep the night before the flight and took two shots of vodka with painkillers.
He forgot to set an alarm and, when woken by a call asking where he was, drank the rest of the vodka and left.
She said he did not know why he drank the vodka, but only that his willpower had failed.
Gronych was remanded in custody for sentencing on April 3.
Budget carrier Sunwing Airlines released a statement apologising for the incident on December 31.
It read: "Dear Customers,
"We would like to take the opportunity to advise you of an incident that occurred earlier this morning.
"We can confirm that shortly before 7am local time, the gate agents, first officer and crew of Sunwing flight 595, departing from Calgary and destined for Cancun, determined that the Captain was unfit to fly and reported this accordingly.
"The Captain was immediately escorted off of the aircraft and the incident is now under investigation with local authorities.
"We are very appreciative of our crew’s diligence in handling this very unfortunate matter in accordance with procedures.
"We were able to secure a new Captain and are pleased to report that our customers are now en route to their destination after experiencing a minimal delay.
"We are very apologetic for any upset that this has caused and would like to assure our customers that safety remains our utmost priority."
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