Pilot sacked over photo of woman in cockpit
A pilot has been banned from flying for life after a photo of a female passenger sitting in the cockpit while he was flying went viral on Chinese social media network Weibo.
The photo was taken on an Air Guilin flight and shows a female wearing civilian clothes sitting in the cockpit holding up the peace sign.
It was taken during a passenger flight on January 4 but only recently gained the attention of a Chinese aviation blogger who publicly criticised the Air Guilin for disregarding airline safety.
The bloggers post became viral but the woman in the image has since deleted the photo from her Weibo account.
CNN reported that in a statement on Monday, the airline said it had suspended the unnamed pilot from flying duties "for life" for violating civil aviation rules.
Other members of the flight crew have been banned indefinitely, pending further investigation.
"We will enhance our rigorous safety guidelines, to avoid incidents like this from happening again," the statement said.
According to the state-run publication People's Daily the woman in the photo is a student taking a flight attendant course at the Guilin Tourism University.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China does not allow passengers to enter the cockpit without special approval or under "necessary" circumstances.
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