BA pilot sacked for snorting coke off topless woman just before 11-hour flight
He bragged to colleagues about his debaucherous night just hours before he was due to co-pilot a plane.
A British Airways pilot has been sacked after bragging to colleagues about snorting cocaine off a topless woman just hours before he was supposed to be flying back to the UK.
A co-worker raised the alarm on Mike Beaton just hours before he was due to co-pilot a flight from South Africa back to Britain after he revealed his night of debauchery.
In texts to a stewardess, Beaton, from Devon, claimed he was left ‘so f** I couldn’t even lift my head gone 2’ after his all-night partying.
The father-of-one’s behaviour forced the airline to delay the flight for 24 hours while it tried to find a suitable replacement for him, costing them an estimated £100,000, according to The Sun.
When Beaton returned to Britain the next day as a passenger, he was forced to undergo a drug test, which reportedly came back positive.
British Airways has insisted there was no risk to passengers and revealed that he no longer works for the company.
In a number of messages, the pilot allegedly brags about how he spent the night with a Welsh woman, a Spanish woman, and a number of other men.
He had allegedly been showing off about his wild night to colleagues while on downtime in South Africa.
Beaton revealed to friends that things had got out of hand after meeting the group of people at a nightclub in the city, it is reported.
The pilot then went back to one of the men’s flats before boasting that the ‘girls are dancing topless’ before he decided to snort cocaine off one of their chest’s – it is claimed.
‘So then there’s a debate about whose chest is the best to do a bump off,’ he bragged.
‘That’s the story of how I ended up snorting coke off a girl’s t**s in Joburg.’
A source at the airline said that managers were ‘furious’ when his behaviour was reported to them by his colleagues.
They said the pilot had ‘hoisted himself by his own petard’ and that although there would have been no alcohol in his system on his return to the UK, adding: ‘He will never fly again.’
A spokesperson for British Airways told Metro.co.uk: ‘Safety is always our top priority. The matter was referred to the CAA and this individual no longer works for us.’
The Civil Aviation Authority told the newspaper it has strict procedures in place for when pilots misuse drinks or drugs.
It said: ‘An airline must immediately inform us if a UK pilot has misused drink or drugs boarding, or being on board, an aircraft.
‘In these cases we would immediately suspend the pilot’s medical which means they cannot fly.
‘In most cases the pilot would have an assessment with an expert medical team and if they wished to return to flying then a comprehensive rehabilitation programme would be put in place.
‘The medical would only be reinstated if we were completely satisfied.’
When confronted by reporters, Beaton’s wife refused to comment, saying: ‘You must speak to my husband about it.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.