Photo/Illutration Skymark Airlines’ executive officer Kotaro Hara, right, apologizes at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in Tokyo on Feb. 7. (Eishi Kado)

The transport ministry issued a warning to Skymark Airlines Inc. after a mechanic faked a sobriety test and performed a pre-flight aircraft inspection under the influence of alcohol, the company said Feb. 7.

Skymark said the mechanic in his 60s was fired, and two company executives volunteered to have their salaries cut by 10 percent for a month over the matter.

A test detected 0.08 milligram of alcohol per liter from the mechanic’s breath when he led a crew that inspected the aircraft before it departed Nagasaki Airport for Kobe on Dec. 25, 2022.

Inspection crew members are required to show zero traces of alcohol in such tests.

The mechanic initially joined the pre-flight inspection crew after his colleagues helped him to fabricate a test result that showed he was negative for alcohol.

Later, prompted by one of his colleagues, the mechanic underwent a test that showed a positive result.

He returned to the team following a negative result of another test he had 30 minutes later.

However, it was revealed that the mechanic and the colleague failed to complete part of the inspection, such as checking tire pressure, before the plane took off.

They falsified the inspection report to state that all necessary checks were carried out, the company said.

The ministry ordered the airline to submit measures to prevent a recurrence.