Iraqi Airline pilot suspended for allowing model in cockpit

An Iraqi Airways pilot has been suspended after allowing a female media personality into the cockpit, Rudaw reported.

Images of Iraqi broadcaster Welyan Al-Baiaty posing next to the pilot mid-air circulated on social media alongside a video, believed to have been filmed in September 2020, in which Al-Baiaty jokes with the pilot about the simplicity of flying a plane.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority said: “The Air Safety Department of the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority suspended one of the pilots working in one of the Iraqi national carriers, after allowing a female media worker to enter the cockpit while flying.”

“It constitutes a violation of civil aviation laws that prevent cases that endanger the lives of travelers,” the statement continued.

Iraqi Airways has previously been banned from the European Union for safety violations. In 2018, security on the airline’s flights was called into question after two pilots got into a physical fight while flying 160 passengers on a Boeing 737.

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