Airline is plain sorry for wife in cockpit scandal
A CAPTAIN with Donghai Airlines has been suspended for half a year and fined for allowing his wife to enter the cockpit, the Shenzhen-based carrier announced Wednesday as part of an apology.
Chen Guosheng, who piloted Flight DZ6286 from Nantong in eastern Jiangsu Province to Lanzhou in northwest Gansu Province, and the following Flight DZ6206 from Lanzhou to Beijing on July 28 last year, allowed his wife, surnamed Wang, into the cockpit three times. Chen also allowed Wang to travel free for part of the distance she traveled.
Chen took responsibility for the “severe violations” of safety regulations, abusing his power as the captain and ignoring attempts to dissuade him by other crew members.
In addition to the six-month suspension, Chen was disqualified as a trainer with the carrier and fined 12,000 yuan (US$1,756). He was also asked to pay for Wang’s ticket.
Two co-pilots, a chief attendant and a security officer on board were also punished for failing to question and “resolutely stop the severe violations,” the airline said.
The co-pilots were each grounded for 15 days with a fine of 6,000 yuan. The security officer was fined 500 yuan.The chief attendant received a reduced fine of 500 yuan as she had attempted to dissuade Chen several times and reported the violations to the carrier.
The airline yesterday apologized to passengers and pledged to enhance safety awareness of all its staff to prevent another incident.
It publicized the punishment and made the apology after the incident was listed on the official website of China’s civil aviation regulator in November, which aroused online anger.
“The punishment was too slight for the captain who ignored the safety of all the passengers onboard,” a netizen surnamed Jiang complained. “He should be suspended for life.”
Many other netizens said the chief attendant should be rewarded rather than punished because she confronted a senior officer.
In addition, the Central and Southern Regional Administration with Civil Aviation Administration of China has imposed an administrative warning on the airline, along with an additional 2,000 yuan fine on the captain, the administration said.
Chen agreed to close the cabin gate twice when the actual number of passengers on board was different from the flight manifests.
The administration also fined the security officer 800 yuan for failing to perform his duty to prevent any irrelevant people entering the cockpit.