London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Oct 05, 2025

An Air Guilin captain has been suspended for life from flying after he invited a young woman into the airplane’s cockpit during a flightAir Guilin pilot sacked over cockpit invite

The other crew members who were involved in the incident have been suspended indefinitely and will undergo further investigation by the company, the airline’s statement said.
A photo of the woman sitting in the cockpit of the airplane with her fingers making a V-shaped sign and cups of drinks on her knees has been circulating on Sina Weibo since Sunday.

According to a statement from Air Guilin on Monday, the incident took place on January 4 on flight GT1011 from Guilin, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to Yangzhou, East China’s Jiangsu Province.

Chinese pilots and analysts said the photo appears to have been taken during the flight, the Global Times report said.

The social media post of the photo also includes a comment attributed to the woman, who said she was “so happy.” According to media reports, the woman, wearing civilian clothes in the photo, is in a relationship with the pilot.

The captain violated regulations of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) by allowing an unauthorized person into the cockpit, the statement said.

Chinese netizens criticized the captain and Air Guilin on social media, saying that the captain was irresponsible and risked passengers’ lives. They also called for harsher punishment and stricter supervision of pilots and airline crew members, the Global Times report said.

The woman should also be punished with five days in detention and a fine of 2,000 yuan (US$284), Zhang Qihuai, deputy head of the Chinese Aviation Law Association, told the Global Times.

Zhang agreed with netizens that the captain had put passengers in danger, and should be regarded as a crime.

Zhang said that flying is not trivial and the safety of the passengers and crew are of utmost importance. “Aviation safety comes first. No one can be careless, let alone break the law,” Zhang stressed.

Air Guilin promised to strictly observe CAAC regulations to avoid similar incidents.

On March 23, 1994, a relief pilot of Russia’s Aeroflot Flight 593 brought his 12-year-old daughter and 16-year-son into the cockpit while on duty. The plane crashed into a mountain range in Russia, killing all 75 passengers and crew members on board.

No evidence of a technical malfunction was found, according to related reports, and analysts believe the children accidentally interfered with the doomed flight.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
×