Pilot banned after passenger takes photo in cockpit

BEIJING: A Chinese pilot has been banned from flying after a photo went viral showing a female passenger in the cockpit.

The incident took place on January 4 on an Air Guilin flight GT1011 from Guilin city to Yangzhou city, the BBC reported. It was brought to the airline’s attention on Sunday after screenshots of the alleged passenger’s post was widely shared on micro-blogging site Weibo. The post showed the woman making a ‘V’ sign with her fingers with the photo captioned: “Thanks to the captain. So happy.”

Air Guilin said the pilot had “violated (regulations) by allowing irrelevant personnel into the cockpit”.

According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, passengers are not allowed to enter the cockpit without special approval or under “necessary” circumstances.