A former British Airways subsidiary pilot trying to get back with a regional subsidiary of the airline was jailed last week after he was found to have falsified documents as to the number of hours he had flown and the training certificates he had accumulated, according to Business Insider.
The man claimed to have flown more than 1,600 hours as a captain.
He was sentenced to a year in jail this week after applying for a job with BA CityFlyer, British Airways' regional airline, where he was employed for almost two years between 2016 and 2018. He also flew for Stobart Air, a regional carrier for Aer Lingus.
But somebody at BA CityFlyer threw up a red flag after an incident in Switzerland on the ground when the man "pressed a button that no qualified pilot would (press)."
An investigation of the incident triggered a windfall of false information.
"The safety of our customers and crew is always our priority, and the fully qualified pilot was suspended and an investigation launched as soon as BA CityFlyer became aware of discrepancies in his employment record," an airline representative told Insider. "At no point was there any risk to customers or colleagues."
Jonathan Spence, the Civil Aviation Authority's general counsel, said the authority's prosecution and the sentence imposed "show that offences of this kind are taken very seriously by the Civil Aviation Authority and the courts. Pilot integrity is at the heart of aviation safety and we will take all steps necessary to maintain that position."
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