BA pilot left cockpit door open ‘so family could see him

[CatCage]

BA pilot left cockpit door open ‘so family could see him fly plane’

 

A British Airways pilot was suspended after allegedly leaving the cockpit door open during a transatlantic flight.

 

The unnamed man wanted his family, who were travelling as passengers, to see him operating the controls while flying from Heathrow to New York JFK last week, according to The Sun.

 

His actions “alarmed” some passengers, the newspaper reported, and other crew members alerted the airline about the incident.

 

The pilot was suspended, meaning the return flight scheduled to arrive at Heathrow on Aug 8 was cancelled.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/15/ba-pilot-left-cockpit-door-open-family-see-him-fly/

[SunnyinBangrak]

Back in the days when we still had national cohesion pilots used to regularly come out the cockpit and walk the aisles exchanging pleasantries with his passengers.

Oh to think what we gave up to have faster access to illicit drugs, islamic foods and the ability to praise ourselves for being "inclusive".

[RayC]

2 hours ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Back in the days when we still had national cohesion pilots used to regularly come out the cockpit and walk the aisles exchanging pleasantries with his passengers.

Oh to think what we gave up to have faster access to illicit drugs, islamic foods and the ability to praise ourselves for being "inclusive".

 

Islamic foods a contributory factor in a pilot leaving the cockpit door open. Right.

[topt]

3 minutes ago, RayC said:

 

Islamic foods a contributory factor in a pilot leaving the cockpit door open. Right.

Personally I think either you missed the point of the guy you replied to or you are being overly pedantic...........

You could equally have mentioned the illicit drugs........

[Packer]

4 hours ago, CatCage said:

The pilot was suspended, meaning the return flight scheduled to arrive at Heathrow on Aug 8 was cancelled.

 

Couldn't the co-pilot have been moved up to fly the return leg? Or get another pilot to do it?

 

Canceling a transatlantic flight which had hundreds of paying customers because the pilot left the cockpit door open on the first leg seems overly Modern Britain. 

[Will B Good]

 

 

Not as bad as the halfwit (Russian) pilot who let his son sit in his seat on a flight to Hong Kong......... the son accidentally put the plane into a step dive and killed all 75 people on board......oops!!!

[Watawattana]

What the pilot did was obviously a massive contravention of the regulations, but hardly worthy of cancellation of the return flight.  If he needed a suspension then they could've done it afterwards.

[Will B Good]

Just now, Watawattana said:

What the pilot did was obviously a massive contravention of the regulations, but hardly worthy of cancellation of the return flight.  If he needed a suspension then they could've done it afterwards.

 

I can see your point.....personally I'd like to know the pilot wasn't stressing about his job on the flight home......(only joshing) 

[josephbloggs]

16 minutes ago, Packer said:

 

Couldn't the co-pilot have been moved up to fly the return leg? Or get another pilot to do it?

 

Canceling a transatlantic flight which had hundreds of paying customers because the pilot left the cockpit door open on the first leg seems overly Modern Britain. 

It is overly Modern Aviation I think you meant.

It is quite a serious breach though.

[RayC]

52 minutes ago, topt said:

Personally I think either you missed the point of the guy you replied to or you are being overly pedantic...........

You could equally have mentioned the illicit drugs........

 

Neither. I am being sarcastic which may be the lowest form of wit but, in this case, highlights how Islamophobia seems to pervade many unrelated threads.

[topt]

1 minute ago, RayC said:

 

Neither. I am being sarcastic which may be the lowest form of wit but, in this case, highlights how Islamophobia seems to pervade many unrelated threads.

Understood - thanks for responding back 

[bamnutsak]

Pilots, with more than a few years of service, usually know what is permissible and what is not, so this sort of news is surprising.

 

I've been on a few flights (both 744 upper deck on UA and LH so quite a few years ago) where it is the last flight for a particular pilot, and there is family on board and they trek onto the flight deck for a few minutes.

 

And you usually get a water cascade on arrival.

 

5 hours ago, CatCage said:

and other crew members alerted the airline about the incident.

 

 

Hmm.