A British Airways captain has been suspended after allegedly groping a female passenger who was flying first class.

The unnamed pilot, who was off duty at the time, was travelling on a London-to-Japan flight to pick up another flight in Tokyo when he approached the woman and allegedly molested her while she was sitting next to her husband, The Sun newspaper reports.

The pilot had drunk several whiskies before the incident, according to the report.

He was then seen trying to walk into the cockpit while shouting: "I want to rape the flight deck."

He finally collapsed in front of passengers.

Last night British Airways confirmed the pilot had been suspended.

The same pilot reportedly had only recently returned to work after punching a steward in the face last year.

It is not the first time a British Airways pilot has been accused of gross misconduct.

Last year pilot Martin Greathurst was sacked after allegedly texting a sexually explicit photograph of himself to a woman he met on a flight with another airline.

The woman contacted the police and he was dismissed.