An airline pilot has been grounded after locking his female co-pilot out of the cockpit when she took an unscheduled toilet break.
The incident happened on a SriLankan Airlines flight from Sydney to Colombo, according to a report in The Straits Times.
The paper reports that the captain and co-pilot clashed when she stepped out of the cockpit without arranging for another crew member to replace her, in line with standard operating procedures.
Cabin crew had to persuade the captain to let the first officer back into her seat on the Airbus A330. The two-pilot aircraft landed without incident.
Sri Lanka’s aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), has initiated an investigation.
“The airline is fully cooperating with the relevant authorities, and the captain has been grounded pending the outcome of the investigation,” SriLankan Airlines said in a statement.
It’s the latest in a long line of unwanted headlines for the cash-strapped airline which ran out of money to pay for refurbished engines for some of its aircraft.
