Two Air France pilots suspended after cockpit fight

(CNN) — Two Air France pilots had been concerned in an inflight altercation and exchanged “inappropriate gestures” whereas within the cockpit of an A320 heading from Geneva to Paris, the airline confirmed on Monday.

The spat, which occurred in June 2022, led to the suspension of each pilots, who haven’t been named by Air France.

“The incident was shortly resolved with out affecting the conduct or security of the flight, which continued usually,” an airline spokesperson mentioned in a press release.

“The pilots involved are at present suspended from flying and are awaiting a managerial resolution on the end result/remedy of the incident. Air France reminds that the protection of its clients and crew members is its absolute precedence.”

Though the incident befell two months in the past, it turned public resulting from a narrative final week within the French-language Geneva Tribune newspaper, which alleges there are bigger structural points with Air France.

CNN has not confirmed any of the extra allegations.

The Bureau of Enquiry and Evaluation for Civil Aviation Security (BEA), the French governmental division that oversees the aviation business, mentioned it “has issued a security suggestion in regards to the operator’s compliance with procedures.”

The BEA report mentioned pilots did not comply with gas leak procedures that require the affected engine to be shut down to scale back fireplace danger, leading to “a considerable discount within the flight’s security margin, the fireplace having been prevented by probability.”

This isn’t an remoted case, BEA mentioned. “By means of a sure variety of latest investigations,” they noticed “that the crews involved had not, for varied causes, voluntarily or not, carried out sure procedures in a compliant method,” the company mentioned in the identical report.

The Boeing 777 plane, which had departed from New York Metropolis, landed efficiently and no passengers or crew members had been injured. Air France mentioned its pilots appropriately responded to the scenario by circling and making a second try at touchdown.

Air France, which was based in 1933, is the nation’s nationwide flag provider.

High picture credit score: AP Photograph/Christophe Ena, File

Renée Bertini in Paris contributed to this report