Two BA pilots questioned about mobile phone incident
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Two BA pilots questioned about mobile phone incident
From the BBC:
A British Airways flight was delayed for three hours after a mobile phone was allegedly thrown from the plane on to a runway at Edinburgh Airport.
Two BA pilots have been questioned by police about the incident on Friday.
The BA2945 flight to Gatwick, carrying 149 people, was delayed after the incident at 1930BST.
BA apologised and said: "We are investigating the matter and speaking to the pilots to understand the exact circumstances around the incident."
The incident apparently followed the discovery of an unclaimed mobile phone on board.
The captain and co-pilot have been questioned by Lothian and Borders police, who are still investigating the incident.
A police spokesman said: "We are investigating after a mobile phone was reported to have been thrown from a plane on to the runway at Edinburgh Airport about 7.30pm on 24 June."
A British Airways spokeswoman said: "We apologise to customers on the BA2945 from Edinburgh to Gatwick for the delay to the aircraft's departure.
"There was a local airshow in aid of Armed Forces Day that meant some aircraft couldn't depart or arrive for some time.
"This was further exacerbated as an unclaimed mobile phone was located on board so the aircraft returned to stand."
A British Airways flight was delayed for three hours after a mobile phone was allegedly thrown from the plane on to a runway at Edinburgh Airport.
Two BA pilots have been questioned by police about the incident on Friday.
The BA2945 flight to Gatwick, carrying 149 people, was delayed after the incident at 1930BST.
BA apologised and said: "We are investigating the matter and speaking to the pilots to understand the exact circumstances around the incident."
The incident apparently followed the discovery of an unclaimed mobile phone on board.
The captain and co-pilot have been questioned by Lothian and Borders police, who are still investigating the incident.
A police spokesman said: "We are investigating after a mobile phone was reported to have been thrown from a plane on to the runway at Edinburgh Airport about 7.30pm on 24 June."
A British Airways spokeswoman said: "We apologise to customers on the BA2945 from Edinburgh to Gatwick for the delay to the aircraft's departure.
"There was a local airshow in aid of Armed Forces Day that meant some aircraft couldn't depart or arrive for some time.
"This was further exacerbated as an unclaimed mobile phone was located on board so the aircraft returned to stand."
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If the reports are found to be true, then it is a hanging offence.
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BA pilot 'threw mobile phone from his cockpit' just moments before take off | Mail Online
"Anxious not to delay the flight further by returning to the stand and unloading the mobile, the pilot radioed air traffic control for permission to drop the phone out of the cockpit window.
When controllers refused permission, it is understood he simply defied them, opened the window and dumped the phone out on to the tarmac anyway
Last night one source claimed: 'The captain was already late and in no mood to delay even longer.
He ignored the advice, put the phone in a bag, opened the side window of the cockpit and threw it to the ground"
"Anxious not to delay the flight further by returning to the stand and unloading the mobile, the pilot radioed air traffic control for permission to drop the phone out of the cockpit window.
When controllers refused permission, it is understood he simply defied them, opened the window and dumped the phone out on to the tarmac anyway
Last night one source claimed: 'The captain was already late and in no mood to delay even longer.
He ignored the advice, put the phone in a bag, opened the side window of the cockpit and threw it to the ground"
'Moments earlier he'd asked air traffic control to get a member of the ground crew to come to the end of the runway and get the phone from him.
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Sorry, but for the uninitiated among us, could someone kindly explain the issue with anyone (be it passenger or crew) possessing a mobile phone on board a flight?
Sorry, but for the uninitiated among us, could someone kindly explain the issue with anyone (be it passenger or crew) possessing a mobile phone on board a flight?
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It would have been an unclaimed phone. Probably left on board after the last sector and was either 'found' on the taxi out or the Cabin Crew had found it on the turnaround but forgot to 'hand' it off. Problem that faced the crew was that once the flight crew were notified it becomes a 'security' issue and the 'object' can't travel without its owner so has to be taken off the aircraft. The pilots obviously were trying to avoid having to taxi back onto stand and shutdown just to hand off a phone. I can't see why ATC wouldn't have just sent out a vehicle to collect the phone. Once they said they wouldn't though, it was a bit of a silly move to drop it out the window anyway (if indeed they did).
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@Earl of Rochester,
The problem was that the phone found on the aircraft did not belong , apparently , to anybody on board...
That's were the problem is , it could be put there with some explosives inside or a kind of trigger for a bomb place somewhere else etc...
In all the companies I have been , you are not allowed to take off with anything found on board and not belonging to somebody sitting in the aircraft.
It is the same reason why we can't leave the gate if one passenger don't show up and his or her bag is on board.
We must find the bag and unload it , not to be nice with the passenger still in the airport but to avoid to take off with a bomb in the hold ( you never know why this passenger is not showing for boarding... )
The problem was that the phone found on the aircraft did not belong , apparently , to anybody on board...
That's were the problem is , it could be put there with some explosives inside or a kind of trigger for a bomb place somewhere else etc...
In all the companies I have been , you are not allowed to take off with anything found on board and not belonging to somebody sitting in the aircraft.
It is the same reason why we can't leave the gate if one passenger don't show up and his or her bag is on board.
We must find the bag and unload it , not to be nice with the passenger still in the airport but to avoid to take off with a bomb in the hold ( you never know why this passenger is not showing for boarding... )
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Unaccompanied baggage etc. one can accept, but a phone!
So all anyone has to do to disrupt a departing flight is leave something (anything) on board and hope that the cleaners don't find it but that someone else does once the doors are shut and the taxiing begins.
Moral of the story: Employ cleaning crews who are thorough in their work and who will (hopefully) remove anything they find.
Do you suppose that some carriers have contracts with cleaning companies which allow them to recoup the cost of de-planing, returning to the gate or re-crewing as a result of items missed by the cleaning crew?
Also, if 'Jane' suddenly discovers that 'Mark' really is the love of her life and that she shouldn't have left him (and suppose this revelation occurs just when her flight to JFK is about to turn onto the runway) all she has to do is hold up her phone and say "look, I've found this"?
Unaccompanied baggage etc. one can accept, but a phone!
So all anyone has to do to disrupt a departing flight is leave something (anything) on board and hope that the cleaners don't find it but that someone else does once the doors are shut and the taxiing begins.
Moral of the story: Employ cleaning crews who are thorough in their work and who will (hopefully) remove anything they find.
Do you suppose that some carriers have contracts with cleaning companies which allow them to recoup the cost of de-planing, returning to the gate or re-crewing as a result of items missed by the cleaning crew?
Also, if 'Jane' suddenly discovers that 'Mark' really is the love of her life and that she shouldn't have left him (and suppose this revelation occurs just when her flight to JFK is about to turn onto the runway) all she has to do is hold up her phone and say "look, I've found this"?
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Hindsight the Captain should have claimed the phone was his. The phone would have gone though security as it was air side so what would be the problem? It was "clean" surely. They probably would have done the Captain for theft I guess.
Terrorists win again.
Terrorists win again.
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Smart move Doubleue
, except one of the FA's should have come up with this (motivated by a sense of duty) rather than hasstle the captain with such trivia.
If the cabin crew were genuinely concerned with security they could even dismantle the phone into tiny pieces so as to ensure it could not be used for some Al-Qaedic purpose!
Smart move Doubleue
, except one of the FA's should have come up with this (motivated by a sense of duty) rather than hasstle the captain with such trivia.If the cabin crew were genuinely concerned with security they could even dismantle the phone into tiny pieces so as to ensure it could not be used for some Al-Qaedic purpose!
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Earl of Rochester
Cleaning crews are not the final check. It is the responsibility of the cabin crew to carry out a check before each flight after the cleaning crew have left, and immediately prior to boarding. Any left items, no matter how small raise a question mark. I cannot comment upon this particular incident, but in my own day I have asked to go back to stand because a suspicious event had occurred. Maybe similar to the one in the news right now. In fact I did not go back to stand, I was directed to a safe area, and the matter dealt with properly. Yes, we were late, but who cares. The passengers were fine, and so was the company.
If afraid, just throwing something, anything out of the window, just to meet schedule is a hanging offence. FOD and an unreported security issue, incorrectly dealt with. I've said it before, when the chips are down, sod the schedule, Commanders, start bloody well commanding.
Cleaning crews are not the final check. It is the responsibility of the cabin crew to carry out a check before each flight after the cleaning crew have left, and immediately prior to boarding. Any left items, no matter how small raise a question mark. I cannot comment upon this particular incident, but in my own day I have asked to go back to stand because a suspicious event had occurred. Maybe similar to the one in the news right now. In fact I did not go back to stand, I was directed to a safe area, and the matter dealt with properly. Yes, we were late, but who cares. The passengers were fine, and so was the company.
If afraid, just throwing something, anything out of the window, just to meet schedule is a hanging offence. FOD and an unreported security issue, incorrectly dealt with. I've said it before, when the chips are down, sod the schedule, Commanders, start bloody well commanding.
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Excuse me as the non-professional pilot asking a dumb question, but if one threw a small object out of the side window on a 737, isn't there a risk (maybe low probability), that it might, break and that pieces of FD might get into the engine on that side?
My point being, does anyone really believe that an airline captain would even contemplate such a thing?
My point being, does anyone really believe that an airline captain would even contemplate such a thing?
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Final 3 Greens
"Excuse me as the non-professional pilot asking a dumb question, but if one threw a small object out of the side window on a 737, isn't there a risk (maybe low probability), that it might, break and that pieces of FD might get into the engine on that side?"
Yes. and its a risk to other aircraft.
"My point being, does anyone really believe that an airline captain would even contemplate such a thing? "
A professional commander would not do this.
"Excuse me as the non-professional pilot asking a dumb question, but if one threw a small object out of the side window on a 737, isn't there a risk (maybe low probability), that it might, break and that pieces of FD might get into the engine on that side?"
Yes. and its a risk to other aircraft.
"My point being, does anyone really believe that an airline captain would even contemplate such a thing? "
A professional commander would not do this.
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Any chance that this could be dealt with sensibly and objectively is now probably gone, due to the media coverage.
I recall an incident some years ago where a cabin crew was slurring during a safety demonstration due to sedative intake the night before. A passenger brought it to the attention of the Captain who offloaded the cabin crew member at the earliest opportunity. On the day the Captain was commended by the Flight Ops Director for handling the incident well however a week or so later, after the incident got coverage in the tabloid press thanks to that passenger not getting the compensation he wanted, the cabin crew was sacked and the Captain and other flight deck member (a line training captain) were demoted.
I recall an incident some years ago where a cabin crew was slurring during a safety demonstration due to sedative intake the night before. A passenger brought it to the attention of the Captain who offloaded the cabin crew member at the earliest opportunity. On the day the Captain was commended by the Flight Ops Director for handling the incident well however a week or so later, after the incident got coverage in the tabloid press thanks to that passenger not getting the compensation he wanted, the cabin crew was sacked and the Captain and other flight deck member (a line training captain) were demoted.
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When I read the headline I assumed some pax had refused to turn off his/her phone and, eventually, the crew had got so fed up they expeditiously removed it from the aircraft. I'd have a lot of sympathy with that...
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F3G
Not if it is wrapped / secured in a bag.
I have seen it done when I was an FO (Loadsheet), and done it a few times myself as Capt (Paperwork, Despatcher walkie talkie, mobile). Accepted practice, and saves a lot of hassle. I will not speculate relating the circs under which I have done/seen it done and the EDI situation.
but if one threw a small object out of the side window on a 737, isn't there a risk (maybe low probability), that it might, break and that pieces of FD might get into the engine on that side?
My point being, does anyone really believe that an airline captain would even contemplate such a thing?
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It is the responsibility of the cabin crew to carry out a check before each flight after the cleaning crew have left, and immediately prior to boarding. Any left items, no matter how small raise a question mark.
Do you really think CC should go through every seat pocket? I can think of a hundred places (well maybe not that many!) on a plane where one could hide something small.
Problem that faced the crew was that once the flight crew were notified it becomes a 'security' issue and the 'object' can't travel without its owner so has to be taken off the aircraft.
Agreed that aircraft have unique risks and are hot targets but the "secure at any cost" mindset has no end. Even for security there has to be a cost benefit analysis.
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Not speculating on this example Nigel, but that's a different case...I've found putting the object (forgotten wallet, loadsheet etc) in a bag and tying it to the escape rope allows for a graceful delivery...but I certainly wouldn't consider it if told not to by a ground agency...and there would have to be someone on the ground to accept it...