Air France suspended two pilots who started a brawl in the cockpit of Airbus A320 in June 2021 during a flight from Geneva to Paris.
The fight ensued after the copilot refused to comply with certain instructions, and was grabbed by the collar and possibly slapped by the captain. The fight was resolved after a flight attendant intervened and separated the pilots.
The story was revealed by La Tribune. According to the magazine, it comes in addition to numerous other safety concerns outlined in a recent report by France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA).
The report details a series of cases when serious safety violations occurred on Air France’s aircraft. One of the cases involved the pilots of Airbus A330 not reporting a fuel leak after it occurred. Yet another incident saw the pilots forgetting to turn on one of the aircraft’s engines before the takeoff.
“The review of the above-mentioned occurrences suggests that there is a certain culture among some Air France crews which encourages a propensity to underestimate the extent to which strict compliance with procedures contributes to safety.” the report says.
The document called for putting the “compliance with procedures back in the centre of the company’s safety culture.”
According to La Tribune, Air France said the brawling incident did not compromise the safety of the flight, and the overall number of incidents remained stable in comparison with the period before the one outlined in the report.