Sri Lanka carrier grounds captain after mid-air argument

By AFP
October 15, 2024
Engineers clean an Airbus 340 at the Sri Lankan Airlines maintenance hangar at the international airport in Katunayake, 30 km (19 miles) north of Colombo, February 10, 2014. — Reuters
Engineers clean an Airbus 340 at the Sri Lankan Airlines maintenance hangar at the international airport in Katunayake, 30 km (19 miles) north of Colombo, February 10, 2014. — Reuters

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka´s national airline grounded a captain after he locked out his female copilot when she took a toilet break during a flight from Sydney to Colombo, officials said.

Sri Lanka´s aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), had initiated an investigation. “The airline is fully cooperating with the relevant authorities, and the captain has been grounded pending the outcome of the investigation,” SriLankan Airlines said in a statement.

The captain clashed with the female copilot over her stepping out without arranging another crew member to accompany him in the cockpit, in line with standard operating procedures, an airline source said. Cabin crew had to persuade the captain to let the first officer back into her seat on the Airbus A330. The two-pilot aircraft landed without incident.