February 26, 2008

Flying to the limit

A pilot who while flying a new Boeing Jumbo jet has been dismissed from the airline Cathy Pacific, the reason for this was that he flew the plane within twenty eight feet of the control tower at the Boeing plane making factory in the US.

The plane had reached a speed of 322 mph at the time of the incident, with many VIP’s on board including the chairman of the company Chris Pratt, the plane was heading for the company’s base in Hong Kong.

After conducting an internal investigation the 55 year old pilot, Captain Ian Wilkinson was fired from his £250,000 a year job. However there will be a report for the aviation authorities which will result in another enquiry no doubt. The problem that the airline and pilot face now is because some footage of the incident appeared on the internet, which has alerted the media etc.

Source [Times]