U.S. Pilot Arrested At London Heathrow Airport, Admits Cocaine Possession—Passengers Owed Over $150,000 Compensation

A 64-year-old U.S. pilot arrested at London Heathrow has pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine. Wayne Sigler, from Louisiana, was remanded in custody and faces two additional charges involving alleged drunkenness or unfitness for duty. According to the BBC’s report of information confirmed by the Metropolitan Police, Sigler was arrested on Sunday, November 1. He appeared in court on Saturday, November 7, and pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine. His next hearing is scheduled for December 7 at Isleworth Crown Court. Those charges fall under the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003. The law also covers preparing to fly, duties after reporting for work, and standby. The charges don’t establish that he flew passengers while impaired. Reporting on the incident doesn’t identify the airline or flight, but there’s a Wayne Sigler who identifies as an American Airlines pilot in federal campaign donation records, and online discussion pegs him as an American pilot who came to the airline via America West and US Airways. On November 1, American Airlines 39 to Miami and American AIrlines 91 to Chicago O’Hare were both cancelled, and American 85 to O’Hare departed nearly 5 hours late. What Delayed Passengers Are Owed A flight departing Heathrow is covered by U.K. passenger compensation rules regardless of where the airline is based. For a journey over 3,500 kilometers, such as London to the U.S., a qualifying arrival delay of more than four hours means £520 per person (~ US$690.42). A three-to-four-hour delay falls into the £260 band. An airline can avoid the compensation payment when extraordinary circumstances caused the disruption. But the U.K. Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Lipton v BA Cityflyer rejected that defense in the case of a pilot’s illness. And paragraph 170 specifically addresses a pilot who drinks enough to be unfit to report for work. If that causes a cancellation, the court says the reason is “inherent in the airline’s activity and operations.” A plane with 250 passengers at £520 each would mean £130,000 in compensation or $172,500. There was a British Airways pilot who bragged about using cocaine during a Johannesburg layover. A flight attendant reported his messages, he was kept from operating the return flight, and the airline fired him. Topics on this page