Two pilots in India suspended for allowing 'girlfriend' fly in cockpit

Two Jet Airways pilots in India were officially suspended by the carrier for allowing an unauthorized “lady friend” to sit in the cockpit for the duration of the trip from Goa to Mumbai.

According to the Times of India, the pilots are now in bigger trouble, as they ignored a temporary month-long license suspension from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and illicitly agreed to fly again for Jet Airways. 

Both went through simulator training, and one pilot even operated a flight during their initial grounding period. For their part, Jet Airways has blamed an organizational oversight as the root of the escalating trouble in what the Times has dubbed “the lady-in-cockpit episode. An administrative oversight led to a Jet Airways pilot, currently off flying duties, being assigned a training flight after completing a ground training session,” an airline spokesman told the outlet. 

“The company has proactively reported the event to the DGCA and has already fixed the gap in the assignment process, to prevent its reoccurrence, following an internal investigation.”  DGCA official Lalit Gupta told Jet Airways that the pilot’s actions aboard flight 9W 762 on January 8 “compromised with the safety of aircraft operations and its occupants,” a disgrace to the “privilege of their pilots licenses.”