| 1 | | | Passenger Clive Warshaw was barred | | | | | commands which the commander of that |
| | | from a Virgin flight last week after | | | | | aircraft may give for the purposes of securing |
| | | making an ironic comment to a pilot | | | 30 | | the safety of the aircraft ... or the efficiency or |
| | | who turned up late for a flight | | | | | regularity of air navigation”. Was Warshaw |
| 5 | | already delayed by 13 hours. | | | | | disobeying commands? Clearly not. Was he a |
| 2 | | | Is this pilot power gone mad? Warshaw, | | | | | threat to the “efficiency or regularity of air |
| | | who paid £3,500 for his business-class return | | | | | navigation”? He says no, the captain says |
| | | to Miami, thinks so. “You have to question | | | 35 | | potentially yes, end of story. |
| | | the captain’s psychological balance. He | | 5 | | | So far, so lawful, but was the pilot being |
| 10 | | looked as if he’d just been dragged out of bed | | | | | fair? “It doesn’t sound like it,” says Tony |
| | | and was clearly in a foul mood. All I said was | | | | | Dixon, editor of Airliner World. “If all Mr |
| | | ‘well done’. If that’s all it takes to make him | | | | | Warshaw said was ‘well done’, well, it is a bit |
| | | crack, you wonder how he’d cope under | | | 40 | | harsh, isn’t it?” |
| | | pressure at 33,000ft.” | | 6 | | | Dixon believes a tabloid thirst for “air |
| 3 | 15 | | Virgin, which has offered £2,000 and | | | | | rage” reports may have made pilots more |
| | | 80,000 air miles as compensation, stands by | | | | | twitchy than in the past. Ironically, CAA |
| | | its man and says: “The captain felt Mr | | | | | reports suggest a decline in disruptive |
| | | Warshaw’s behaviour suggested he could be | | | 45 | | behaviour on UK airlines (last year you had to |
| | | disruptive during the flight. He was therefore | | | | | fly 36,000 times to encounter a serious |
| 20 | | fully justified in not letting him board.” | | | | | incident). But in this case at least, it seems the |
| | | Warshaw is unrepentant: “I have three | | | | | pilot was taking no chances. You have been |
| | | witnesses from the flight who’ve written to | | | | | warned - an ironic comment could see you |
| | | Virgin in my defence - one of them works for | | | 50 | | left on the runway. |
| | | the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).” | | | | | Jeremy Lazell |
| 4 | 25 | | Was the pilot acting lawfully? According | | | | | |
| | | to the CAA’s Air Navigation Order, “every | | | | | The Sunday Times |
| | | person in an aircraft shall obey all lawful | | |
