[FDOS]

British Airways pilot called police on ‘drunk’ stewardess at 30,000ft

Bl**dy H*ll.

[Mark]

Just hangout with crew downroute watch them taking drugs too!
Singapore would not be impressed.

1 user thanked author for this post.

DannyBoy

[DannyBoy]

Virgin crew are also notorious for this behavior. I remember a story a couple of years ago where a girl got dismissed. Vegas is the place to catch crew from all carriers. They will usually party over at Caesars or get tempted by a high roller elsewhere who fancies his chances.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Mark

[CathayLoyalist2]

Mark wrote:

Just hangout with crew downroute watch them taking drugs too!
Singapore would not be impressed.

Taking any drugs in Singapore of all places is the height of stupidity

[Travel Guide Ideas]

A Sussex Police spokesman has confirmed that a British Airways flight attendant was detained for being intoxicated and potentially under the influence of drugs on a trip from Gran Canaria to London Gatwick.

According to a report in The Sun, passengers watched “in amazement” as armed cops escorted the female cabin staff member out of the Airbus A320.

Last Thursday, after the pilots radioed ahead to express their worries about the flight attendant, police were dispatched to meet British Airways flight BA2601. Coworkers reportedly worried about the crew member’s potential intoxication in addition to their own suspicions that she was drunk.

[FDOS]

Reading comments on another forum, someone with a huge number of posts asserts that there was no obvious risk to the operation of the aircraft.

Is this really true?

It seems to me that

The crew complement was reduced by one, maybe it was above the minimum 1 for every 50 seats, but it was not pre-planned and thus abnormal.

Presumably, when the other crew realised what was happening, there would be some kind of emotional impact on them, especially as someone would have to inform the person what was happening – I cannot imagine that would be great, for either party.

The event was a distraction form the normal SOPs of operating a flight.

I would not wish to try to argue a case that the risk profile of operating the flight was significantly altered and it became dangerous, but to say no obvipous risk to the operation of the aircraft seems naive to me – what do others think?

This is not a dig at BA, the company will also be a victim, wasting a lot of time and effort delaing with the aftermath, in many ways.

[Midlands Traveller]

I agree FDOS. Not a significant risk but clearly an obvious one.

The SOPs are there for a reason. If it was considered safe to staff an aircraft with less people then the airline industry would have done it long ago.

Not BA’s fault. Hugely unprofessional behaviour on behalf of the stewardess.

[ASK1945]

Midlands Traveller wrote:

…………..Hugely (ALLEGED) unprofessional behaviour on behalf of the stewardess.

Before we pass an opinion (or judgement) on the person involved, we should await a conviction. I have added a word to your last sentence.

3 users thanked author for this post.

cwoodward, MartynSinclair, Midlands Traveller

[Midlands Traveller]

You are absolutely correct ASK1945.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Ekond222

[theflyingnurse]

Obviously very worrying. The cabin crew member in question could perhaps have started on new medication that she reacted to, or taken too many painkillers. There could also have been a serious medical issue that has not yet been diagnosed. However the Mail newspaper did report that she failed a breathalyser test at Gatwick which doesn’t look good. As this was a LGW – LPA flight I assume it was base to base so there would be no time spent down route to drink alcohol. Surely at crew check in or during the briefing before the outbound flight someone would have noticed if something wasn’t right. I imagine it would be difficult to drink alcohol on either of the sectors as there is nowhere to hide on such a relatively small aircraft, unless she took a few miniatures to the toilet. Very concerning as well as sad.

[DavidSmith2]

theflyingnurse wrote:

As this was a LGW – LPA flight I assume it was base to base

I am no expert on the rules but not sure that LGW-LPA would be base to base? It’s a 4+ hour flight so that would make for a long working day..over 12 hours from start to finish. But very happy if someone can clarify.

[drflight]

The flight is question is not not strictly speaking a main line British Airways flight but is a British Airways flight operated on behalf of British Airways by their subsidiary company BA Euroflyer which is, I believe, a separate limited company.

[theflyingnurse]

@DavidSmith2 “But very happy if someone can clarify.” Yes I can clarify, LGW – LPA is base to base for BA. I am ex longhaul crew but have many friends who still fly for several airlines who do this route and they have informed me it is still a base to base. A very long day, similar to Turkish and Cypriot destinations. Some airlines have a reduced crew check in time for these long routes and of course the captain can use his position to go into discretionary hours.

1 user thanked author for this post.

DavidSmith2

[theflyingnurse]

@ drflight, are you saying it puts a different light on the situation because it is a BA Euroflyer crew member we are talking about?

[FDOS]

I don’t think it much matters which operating company it is, BA Euroflyer is BA, so is Cityflyer, so is the Heathrow operation.

All fly big shiny aircraft in BA branding and the report I posted did not say ‘British Airways MAINLINE pilot’, just ‘British Airways pilot.

It may have been a mainline aircraft subbing at LGW or not – who cares?

3 users thanked author for this post.

esselle, cwoodward, theflyingnurse

[Author]

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