Pilot suspended over mid-air photo stunt
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.It could have been the ultimate in zoom photography, but a hair-raising stunt over the Atlantic last month went badly wrong and has resulted in the suspension of a daredevil German airline pilot.
The Condor Airlines flyer was suspended along with his co-pilot yesterday after his determination to take a cockpit shot of a colleague forced a British jet carrying almost 200 passengers to take emergency evasive action.
The unnamed German pilot was allegedly so keen to take a photo of a fellow-pilot manning his final Condor flight that he rose from below to within 600ft of a nearby plane, breaking strict aviation rules and setting off warning alarms in both aircraft.
After endangering the lives of the 234 people on board and severely damaging the pilot's professional record, the mile-high antics did not even provide the Condor captain with the close-up he wanted.
He had edged up to the wrong aircraft, a British Thomas Cook plane, and forced it to make a steep climb to avoid crashing. The intended subject of the photo was 100 miles away and unaware of the close encounter off the Canadian coast.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments