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According to earlier reports, the State Aviation Administration is investigating an incident, which happened at Simferopol Airport on March 9, 2010, when the high level of alcohol in the blood of the crew of a Yak-42 plane belonging to Donbassaero was dis Donetsk-based Donbassaero is probing the cause of a delay in a regular flight between Kyiv and Simferopol, which was scheduled for 0715 Kyiv time on March 9, 2010, the company's press service said in a statement.

"The exact causes behind the long delay in the departure of the plane are being investigated, after which Donbassaero's management will take adequate measures. The crewmembers were delivered to a hotel for rest at 0230 at night [on March 9, 2010] with a delay, according to preliminary information. Under mandatory rest requirements, the next flight could take place no earlier than midday," the press service quotes Donbassaero Director General Oleksandr Hrechko.

"However, the airport's service did not inform passengers about a forced five-hour rescheduling of the flight and announced the delay every hour. Eventually, the departure of the plane turned out to be impossible because of bad weather (this was the major cause for the delay), as there was a strong cross wind at a speed of 23-24 meters per second, in connection with this, there was no need for the crewmembers to arrive at the airport.

However, the statement reads, despite the above-mentioned, the cabin crew arrived at Simferopol Airport at the airport administration's request to undergo pre-flight medical examination.

"According to unconfirmed information, a respective service of the airport began to suspect during the examination that the flight engineer and a flight attendant had alcohol in their blood," Hrechko said. "However, the results for the captain, the copilot and three flight attendants were within norms, according to the preliminary results of the test."

The plane left Simferopol with a new crew late on Tuesday, reads the statement.

The airlines does not have documents confirming the results of the alcohol test. In case, they are confirmed, appropriate measures under the current regulations will be taken against those guilty.

According to earlier reports, the State Aviation Administration is investigating an incident, which happened at Simferopol Airport on March 9, 2010, when the high level of alcohol in the blood of the crew of a Yak-42 plane belonging to Donbassaero was discovered before a flight.

In particular, the level of alcohol in the flight engineer's blood was 0.75 pro mil and that in a flight attendant's 0.57 pro mil, with the norm being below 0.2 pro mil.