A British pilot has been dismissed for “buzzing” a control tower in a Top Gun-style stunt during the maiden flight of a Boeing jumbo jet.
Captain Ian Wilkinson astonished passengers by taking the 230-tonne Cathay Pacific jet to within 28ft (8.5m) of the ground shortly after take-off from Boeing’s US manufacturing plant.
The 322mph fly-by was cheered by onlookers, and the pilot, who is said to be one of the most senior aviators with the airline, later toasted the flight with champagne.
Footage of the stunt on January 30 was leaked on to the internet, however, and Mr Wilkinson was suspended. Cathay Pacific executives took a dim view of his actions, which were carried out without authorisation, and he was dismissed after a disciplinary meeting last week.
Ray Middleton, his British co-pilot, who had been unaware that the fly-by was performed without official permission, was suspended from training duties for six months.
Chris Pratt, the chairman of Cathay Pacific, is said to have been among the VIP passengers who were on board the £100 million plane, a 777-300ER that had taken off from the plant in Everett, Washington, en route for Hong Kong, where the airline is based.
Mr Wilkinson, who is in his mid-fifties and has lived in Hong Kong for more than 15 years, earned more than £250,000 a year.
Cathay Pacific is conducting an internal investigation and will submit a report to aviation authorities.
A spokesman said: “The pilot in command of the flight was dismissed as he had neither sought nor obtained the necessary company approval to undertake such a fly-by.”
The airline had a well-established approval process for such manoeuvres and had conducted them in the past at air shows but only “with proper approval in place”.
A Cathay Pacific pilot has claimed that Mr Wilkinson’s job was put in jeopardy only after footage of the incident appeared on the internet.
He said: “Wilkinson was very much one of the elite in Cathay Pacific and would have been very chummy with the airline executives he was flying that day. If no one else had found out about it the incident would probably have gone no further, but once it began circulating on the internet and Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Authority got hold of it, that was the end of him.”
Mr Wilkinson is thought to be considering an appeal against his dismissal.
The swoop has become a hot topic on internet forums for pilots, with some praising the stunt but others criticising it as dangerous. Cathay Pacific has issued a notice to all crew reminding them of the company’s policy.
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