A British Airways flight took off an hour and a half late after a pilot who was heading from Edinburgh to Heathrow to fly another aircraft was allegedly drunk and became berserk. According to The Sun, the Boeing 787 veteran flier was a passenger on the jet when she became “disruptive,” and the plane’s captain was forced to abandon takeoff.
A source told the paper that the woman became “disruptive” and the captain of Flight BA1457 had no choice but to make the decision to abandon the take-off. The source said the aviator acted “as if very drunk” and was recognised by airline staff as she hit the booze on May 30.
The source told The Sun: “She was being abusive and incredibly belligerent to other passengers.
“It got so heated that the flight-deck was informed and the captain decided to eject her.”
Police were summoned to meet the Airbus A319 as it returned to the stand before it took off for its scheduled 57-minute flight to the Scottish capital.
The source added: “She then began flailing her arms at officers as they tried to arrest her.”
The pilot, said to have “passionately” resisted arrest, was suspended immediately from duty by the airline. The flight took off 90 minutes late due to the interruption.
British Airways told The Sun: “It would be inappropriate to comment during a police investigation.”
The airline operates roughly a dozen flights a day from Edinburgh to Heathrow according to GB News. British Airways flies approximately 1.9million passengers out of Edinburgh Airport every year. This number accounts for about 10 per cent of the airline’s scheduled seats at the airport.