Page 18 - IAV Digital Magazine #442

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Pilots Get Into Fight
Mid-air, Leave
Cockpit Unattended
By Ray Downs
Jan. 10 (UPI) - - Two Indian pilots have been fired after they reportedly got into a physi- cal altercation and left the plane's cockpit unattended dur- ing a flight from London to Mumbai.
The Jet Airways pilots -- a man and a woman -- got into an alter- cation on Jan. 1 with 324 pas- sengers on board. According to
the Times of India, the male co-pilot slapped the female com- mander while they were in the cockpit.
When she left the cockpit in tears, the male co-pilot left the cockpit unat- tended on two occasions to persuade her to come back.
"The cockpit fight was a shocking and a very serious incident," said an official from India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation. "Both the pilots were out of the cock- pit a couple of times and there was no one there. What if they had been locked out of
the cockpit? This is unheard of and calls for extreme action."
While both pilots were fired by the private airline, the DCGA revoked the male co- pilot's pilot license immedi- ately. The female com- mander's license status is still under review but pre-
liminary investi- gations indicate no further action will be taken.
"It is alleged the lady command- er was hit by the co-pilot and she left the cockpit," the official said. "As per rules, one pilot can leave the cockpit as long as another is there. So she left when one pilot was still on
the controls."
Jet Airways told the BBC it had "zero tolerance for any action of its employees that compromis- es safety".
"At Jet Airways, safety of guests, crew and assets is of paramount importance," a spokesperson said.
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