KARACHI: Apropos a story headlined “PIA pilot grabs some shut-eye leaving aircraft in hands of trainee” published in Dawn on May 7, Amir Akhtar Hashmi, the pilot, has issued a contradiction.

In his statement on Monday, he said all major airlines on long sector scheduled one extra non-rated co-pilot to accompany the rated co-pilot so that the captain could take a nap out of the cockpit.

In the flight mentioned in the story, he said, both co-pilots were rated on B777, adding that despite this fact he did not leave the cockpit for more than a few minutes.

He said the picture published with the story was an old one and that in that flight he was officially travelling as a passenger.

The purser in her report about the Islamabad-London flight — on which the story was based — said that a passenger had complained about the sleeping pilot. The management accep­ted her report as well as the allegation levelled by the passenger and the purser against her boss (captain) and took him off flying duties.

A PIA spokesperson also conceded that an inquiry into the report was under way.

Published in Dawn, May 09th, 2017