Airline pilots describe being pushed to the limit and warn about the impact on flight safety in a cache of leaked documents that give a unique and occasionally hair-raising insight into the aviation industry.
Crews complain about fatigue and potentially dangerous schedules at a leading budget airline, which is already under pressure following a
crash on 19 March that killed 62 passengers and crew.
A bomb scare at 30,000ft, multiple bird strikes, being shone at by lasers, drunken passengers, medical emergencies – and a pilot who forgot to disengage the handbrake during take-off – are also among more than 400 air safety reports written by pilots at Flydubai during March and April of this year.
One pilot at the airline, which operates across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa, said: “The company is losing the confidence of pilots, and I can feel and see it when I’m flying with colleagues.”
Another claimed that the number of hours he was expected to work was potentially illegal.
He wrote: “I SAY AGAIN. ILLEGAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! … THIS IS LEADING IN A EVEN MORE DANGEROUS SITUATION.”
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