Senior Pakistani pilot in trouble for taking a nap and leaving a trainee to fly the plane
Captain Hashmi was a former head of the Pakistan Air Lines Pilots Association.
A Pakistan International Airlines pilot has been taken off duty for allegedly sleeping in a business class seat and handing over the plane’s controls to his first officer and a trainee while on a flight from Islamabad to London. One of the plane’s 305 passengers reported the incident to the airline, with a photo of the napping pilot to boot.
Captain Hashmi, PTI reported, was a former head of the Pakistan Air Lines Pilots Association, and action was initiated against him after “pressure from above”, Dawn reported. The incident took place a few weeks ago, and Hashmi will not fly till the investigation is complete, officials told the Pakistani daily.
Part of Hashmi’s job is to train young pilots, the report added. Officials said Hashmi’s adherence to flight rules have been questioned in the past, when he had flown acros the Atlantic without resting as much as is prescribed.