Fisticuffs withinside the cockpit, leaving a leaky engine walking even as cruising over Africa — Air France pilots are below scrutiny after latest incidents which have caused French investigators to name for harder protection protocols.
Two Air France pilots have been suspended after bodily preventing withinside the cockpit on a Geneva-Paris flight in June, an Air France authentic stated Sunday. The flight persevered and landed adequately, and the dispute failed to have an effect on the relaxation of the flight, the authentic stated, stressing the airline’s dedication to protection.
Switzerland’s La Tribune stated that the pilot and co-pilot had a dispute quickly after takeoff, and grabbed every different with the aid of using their collars after one reputedly hit the different. Cabin team intervened and one team member spent the flight withinside the cockpit with the pilots, the record stated.
News of the combat emerged after France’s air research agency, BEA, issued a record Wednesday announcing that a few Air France pilots lack rigor in respecting processes all through protection incidents.
It centered on a gas leak on an Air France flight from Brazzaville withinside the Republic of Congo to Paris in December 2020, whilst pilots rerouted the aircraft however failed to reduce energy to the engine or land as quickly as possible, as leak process requires. The aircraft landed adequately in Chad, however the BEA record warned that the engine should have stuck fire.
It cited 3 comparable instances among 2017 and 2022, and stated a few pilots are performing primarily based totally on their very own evaluation of the scenario in preference to protection protocols.
Air France stated it’s far wearing out a protection audit in response. It pledged to observe the BEA’s recommendations, which consist of permitting pilots to observe their flights in a while and making schooling manuals stricter approximately sticking to process.
The airline referred to that it flies lots of flights every day and the record mentions simplest 4 such protection incidents.
Air France pilots unions have insisted that protection is paramount to all pilots and defended pilot moves all through emergency situations.
The BEA additionally investigated an incident in April regarding an Air France flight from New York’s JFK airport that suffered flight manage troubles on method to its touchdown in Paris.