The United Kingdom’s flagship carrier British Airways ran into a public relations crisis when, in September 2023, Devon-based pilot Mike Beason was found to have consumed cocaine off a woman’s bare breasts a few hours before his flight from South Africa’s Johannesburg to London was slated to take off.
Beaton bragged about the escapade to a flight attendant who reported it to British Airways leadership. The flight was canceled — costing British Airways over £100,000 (approximately $130,000 USD) to delay — and Beaton was sent back to London Heathrow (LHR). After a drug test confirmed that he had indeed consumed cocaine, Beaton was dismissed from his role as a First Officer for British Airways.
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‘I’ve lost my shirt somewhere’: BA Pilot
“I’ve lost my shirt somewhere and one of the local lads produces a plate with a few lines of coke,” one of the texts that Beaton allegedly sent to another flight attendant read. “So then there’s a debate about whose chest is the best to do a bump off.”
A year and a half after the incident, British news outlets reported that Beaton has been rehired with a cargo transportation airline called European Cargo. The freight carrier is based out of Bournemouth in southeastern England and became crucial in transporting products during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Related: United, Air Canada flight attendants occasionally allowed to drink on planes
“I think it’s disgusting that he was allowed to fly planes again after what he did,” a source who knows Beaton told to London tabloid The Sun. “The CAA [British aviation regulatory authority] should have banned him from the flight deck for life.”
In a statement to other outlets, the CAA declined to comment on Beaton’s case but said that all of its pilots pass the same standards for selection.
“The medical would only be reinstated if we were completely satisfied,” the CAA said in reference to a medical license that gets suspended if drugs are found in a pilot’s bloodstream.
southerlycourse; Getty Images
There are rare occasions when flight crew can have a drink (here is what they are)
This week, the issue of inebriated flight crew once again garnered internet discussion after some netizens discovered that a few airlines have a policy allowing crew members to have an alcoholic drink.
While none of this applies to pilots who are always subject to the FAA “bottle to throttle” rule, United Airlines (UAL) and Air Canada (ACDVF) allow flight attendants who are riding as passengers on the last leg of their work day (this practice to get flight attendants to their home destination is called “deadheading”) and not wearing their flight attendant uniform to indulge in a glass of wine that is being served or can be purchased aboard the flight.
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Delta (DAL) once had a similar policy but scrapped it due to the optics of flight attendants being seen drinking (United’s policy went viral after a passenger aboard a flight to Hawaii noticed an out-of-uniform flight attendant who was visibly inebriated).
“The person was not in uniform but was part of the crew,” a journalist writing for the Beat of Hawaii news outlet, wrote. “They were seated up front and, throughout the flight, had many conversations with other crew members who came to talk with them.”
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