More has emerged in local newspapers from the proceedings of the employment tribunal which has been hearing the appeals of former Flybe employees Captain Stephen Bird and First Officer Stephen Akers against their dismissal after their now-famous flight deck contretemps .It now transpires the tribunal heard that FO Akers had threatened to take Captain Bird out for a fight after they landed at Malaga.
Their line manager Captain Stan Wood, who led the investigation into the conduct of the two pilots, told the tribunal that FO Akers had "reacted inappropriately" when he swore at Captain Bird . Capt Wood told an Exeter employment tribunal hearing: "Swearing at your captain during the flight is completely unacceptable."
Captain Wood said FO Akers should have requested another pilot take over for the return trip to Exeter because of the "massive" fall-out between the pair and that "He chose to put the safety of innocent passengers and crew members at risk by operating the return flight.".
Captain Wood also said "In my view, Stephen Bird did not act as a captain should have and had no appreciation whatsoever for the potential consequences of his actions. As the captain, and therefore commander, of the aircraft he had ultimate control of the aircraft." He said "Stephen Bird should have taken control of the aircraft on approach to landing. He chose to engage in the argument with Mr Akers, which exacerbated the situation.We could not guarantee that they would have been able to cope with a serious incident that may have arisen on the return flight given the atmosphere and ill-feeling towards each other." Captain Wood said it was "completely inappropriate" for the two pilots to fly back to England after such a heated argument.
Captain Robert Horton, general manager of jets at Flybe, told the tribunal that his first concern was Capt Bird's reference to Mr Akers as "his bitch".Capt Horton said: "As an experienced pilot I would never refer to someone who I was about to spend the next six to eight hours with in those terms, particularly in safety- critical conditions such as flying". "To me" , he said "this is a form of bullying. It is not tolerated at Flybe." He concluded both pilots were "equally culpable for a very serious breach of safety procedure".
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Pilot 'threatened to fight' Flybe captain | This is Exeter