Pilot fired after letting woman pose for cockpit photo during flight

He grounded for life.

A Chinese pilot was axed on Monday for allowing a female passenger to pose for a photo inside the cockpit mid-trip.

The woman posted the image, showing her smiling and making a “V” sign with her fingers next to refreshments, on the social media site Weibo with the caption: “Super thankful to the pilot! I am really so excited,” CNN reported.

It was snapped on an Air Guilin flight from Guilin to Yangzhou in January, but only came to the airline’s attention Sunday when an aviation blogger reposted it on Weibo and it racked up 22,000 likes.

The pilot, who wasn’t publicly named, violated the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s rules, which forbid passengers from entering the cockpit, the airline said.

He was banned from flying for Air Guilin “for life” but could still find work with another carrier, a company representative told state-run Beijing Youth Daily.

Air Guilin said it had a “zero-tolerance policy towards any unprofessional and improper acts that could endanger air safety.”

Other crew members involved in the photo were suspended pending an investigation. A handful of senior executives were also reprimanded and had their salaries cut over the incident, Beijing Youth Daily reported Tuesday.

The woman is a student taking a flight attendant course at the Guilin Tourism University, according to the state-run People’s Daily, CNN reported. It’s unclear whether she knows the pilot personally.

via: https://nypost.com/2019/11/06/pilot-fired-after-letting-woman-pose-for-cockpit-photo-during-flight/

Photo Credit: Weibo