Two Air France pilots clashed while in the cockpit of a Geneva-Paris flight in June, we learned this Sunday fromAssociated Pressconfirming the information The Geneva Tribune. Both pilots have been suspended, the airline told the US News Agency.
The co-pilot and pilot came to blows shortly after takeoff of their Airbus A320. The argument reportedly broke out after one accidentally bumped into the other. Quickly, the tone rose and several slaps and punches were exchanged.
A crew member had to intervene to separate the two men and remain in the cabin throughout the flight, he explains. Associated Press.
A report pointing to incidents
This very rare incident might have gone unnoticed, but the airline is under the radar of the Office of Investigations and Analysis. And the BEA has just released a report, drawing on several recent flight incidents to call on Air France to “put procedural compliance back at the center of the company’s safety culture.”
The BEA is based in particular on an incident that occurred on December 31, 2020 during a flight between Brazzaville (Congo) and Paris on board an Airbus A330. A fuel leak detected at cruising altitude led the crew to divert to the N’Djamena airport (Chad), but without observing the “FUEL LEAK” safety procedure, which provides for the engine to be cut on the side of the leak.
“This decision thus created a significant risk of fire and led to a significant reduction in the safety margin of the flight, the fire having been avoided by chance,” continues the BEA.
If the organization underlines the “extremely limited” number of Air France flights that give rise to surveysit says that it observed “through a series of recent investigations … that the crews in question had been able … to free themselves from carrying out certain procedures in a consistent manner.”
Source: BFM TV
