Coke shame British Airways pilot Mike Beaton tried to join budget airline Wizz Air 3 days before he was exposed
DISGRACED BA pilot Mike Beaton tried to join budget airline Wizz Air three days before our exposé.
He was one of just seven pilots invited to a selection event for the Hungarian firm near Gatwick Airport, and boasted of being pals with one of its senior executives.
But last night there was confusion over what certificate he used to access the event.
Wizz Air insisted he used a valid document that had let him fly BA jets until his drug scandal four weeks earlier.
Pilot regulator the Civil Aviation Authority did not reveal when Beaton’s licence was revoked, but it said it would take “a very long time and rehabilitation” for anyone who had been sacked for taking drugs to get back their permission to fly.
A pilot at the Wizz Air recruitment event at the L3 Harris Academy in Crawley, West Sussex, said: “To even get invited you needed to provide documents including a valid medical certificate.
“It was baffling how Mike Beaton was there, especially as he was telling everyone about his sordid BA past.”
Last night a Wizz Air spokesman told The Sun on Sunday: “Mr Beaton did attend a Wizz Air pilot selection event prior to any media exposure.
“He was not successful.”