Grounded captain facing further punishment
An Air Guilin captain who let a woman in the cockpit during a flight, already grounded by the airline, is facing further punishment by the nation's civil aviation regulator, a senior official said on Monday.
The captain violated regulations, caused safety risks and created a negative social influence, said Gu Xiaohong, a deputy director with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
Gu called it a "typical deliberate violation" at a press conference on Monday and said the CAAC would impose further punishment on the captain and others involved after an investigation. A photo of the woman sitting in the cockpit making a V-sign sparked a backlash when it appeared on Weibo.com earlier this month.
The woman's caption said she was “thankful to the pilot and really so excited.” She later deleted the post.
There were online calls for harsher punishment and stricter supervision of the pilot and crew as well as the woman, who, it was claimed, was in a relationship with the pilot.
Air Guilin later confirmed the incident on January 4 on Flight GT1011 from Guilin in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province.
The airline said it had suspended the pilot “for life” while other members of the flight crew had been banned pending further investigation.
"Air Guilin has a zero-tolerance policy toward any unprofessional and improper acts that could endanger air safety,” the airline said in a statement and it pledged to enhance rigorous safety guidelines to prevent such an incident happening again.
Another report released by the carrier said Xu Xin, its board chairman, had received a serious warning and was fined by three months of performance payments.
Other senior management, including the airline's general manager, deputy general manager maintenance, a former safety supervisor and general manager of the light department were also punished by the carrier.
A photo of the woman sitting in the cockpit making a V-sign sparked a backlash on social media.
Licence revoked
The carrier said it had suggested the CAAC revoke the license of the captain, surnamed Su, to ground him for life. Other crew members, including the copilot and a security guard, were suspended for a year and downgraded.
"It is undoubted that the captain had weak awareness of the regulation and flying safety and neglected his safety duty to allow unqualified and unrelated people to enter the cockpit and even take photos," Gu said.
"The incident gives us a warning that stricter supervision should always be imposed," he added.
Zhang Qihuai, deputy head of the Chinese Aviation Law Association, said there are strict stipulations on who can be allowed in the cockpit. Even inspectors and machinists require special permission.
Other crew members have a duty to prevent such violations, so security guards, chief flight attendants and other crew members should also take responsibility, Zhang said. The woman should also be punished with detention and a fine, he added.
In a deadly incident in 1994, an Aeroflot Flight 593 crashed into a mountain range in Russia after a copilot brought his 12-year-old daughter and 16-year-son into the cockpit. Analysts believe the children's interference with the flight led to the killing of 75 passengers and crew.
