Cockpit brawl: Air France pilots exchange blows mid-air, cabin crew forced to babysit the pair

French national carrier Air France suspended two of its pilots over a mid-air brawl during a June flight from Geneva to Paris. The edgy affair saw the pilot and co-pilot of the flight enter an argument and hold each other by the collar. One of them then hit the other before the cabin crew intervened to save the day. 

One of the cabin crew members then stayed back in the cockpit to babysit the aviator pair and ensure that their altercation did not affect the remainder of the flight, it was reported widely with media outlets citing Swiss news outlet La Tribune. 

The plane was thankfully landed safely in the French capital. The airline has now taken the decision to suspend them as it comes under the scanner over safety concerns, the report said. 

The incident came to light amid a report from France’s air investigation agency, BEA last week. The report concluded that the pilots of the airline pilots had a culture of not adhering to safety procedures.

In another incident in a flight from Congo capital Brazzaville to Paris in December 2020, Air France pilots landed in Chad after rerouting the plane after a fuel leak was discovered. However, the pilots failed to follow the proper safety procedure and did not cut the engine or land as soon as possible, which could have resulted in an engine fire.

There have been three more similar cases at the airline since 2017 where pilots decided to miss safety procedures and instead decided to themselves decide what would the the best way forward.

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