Worst Passenger of the Week: The Persnickety Pilot Who Refused to Fly With a “Dirty” Mask in the Cockpit
Jeff Edwards April 24, 2015
Every Friday, FlyerTalk looks back at the week’s most charming individuals. While there are always plenty of contenders for our Worst Passenger of the Week award, only one lucky flyer can take home the glory.
The Winner — The Persnickety Pilot With a Fear of Filth
Pilots are expected to be meticulous when it comes to pre-flight safety checks, but Air India is investigating whether or not a captain crossed the line from vigilant to petulant when he refused to operate Flight 467 from Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) to Cochin International Airport (COK) on Wednesday. The reason for the commander’s refusal? A “dirty” emergency oxygen mask in the cockpit.
It isn’t often that FlyerTalk’s Worst Passenger of the Week is found on the flight deck, but few germaphobes have the power to delay a flight for more than three hours as this unnamed pilot did.
Airline officials did not consider the dirty air mask a flight-critical issue and suggested that, rather than delay the flight, the disgusted aviator simply clean the mask himself with a sanitizing wipe in much the same way flight attendants clean their own equipment. The pilot, however, refused to fly until the mask was replaced.
In the end, the airline eventually located a replacement for the offending mask and the flight departed three hours behind schedule. Air India has since responded by grounding the pilot while it investigates whether the dirty mask was truly a maintenance issue or if the fussy captain unreasonably delayed the flight.
The pilot’s antics seem to have brought another airline employee down with him, as Air India also grounded the flight engineer who replaced the dirty mask.
Even if company investigators are able to confirm that the oxygen mask was indeed dirty, the pilot may not be out of hot water. Air India says it intends to probe the aviator’s past to determine if there is a pattern of him grounding flights with “specious” excuses.
[Photo: iStock]
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We do not have enough information. The media is saying the mask was dirty. The mask may not have been usable rather than dirty or the lens on the mask may have been scratched enough were he could not see out of the mask. An O2 mask is no good if you can breath through it by not see what you are doing. Wouldn't be the first time that a problem was miss-reported.
I'm with Jacke -- if you're needing that mask in flight, you've got bigger problems than how grungy it is... or just wash the thing off. Unless someone's used it as a chamber pot, anything that would affect you should wipe off.
I agree that a dirty mask is unacceptable. But transferring the problem to the customers is equally unacceptable. The captain should've cleaned the mask, and addressed his working conditions to his employer at an appropriate time.
If this was a US airline, ALPA would have raise the roof about suspending the pilot. Remember, flight attendants don't help with bags in the overhead and pilots don't clean oxygen masks. It's right there in the contract!
Just another example of Air India Labor problems. Come back Kingfisher all is forgiven.