Johannesburg - The British Airways pilot who admitted to snorting cocaine before flying a plane full of passengers from Johannesburg back to the UK has been sacked.
First officer Mike Beaton was reported to management at British Airways after he sent text messages to a stewardess, bragging about how he had been “very, very naughty” with two women and two men in Johannesburg.
According to UK publication The Daily Mail, the father-of-one told how the group “did shots, polished off a bottle of vodka”, and then he “snorted cocaine off a topless woman’s breasts” and “had sex for ages” before trying to fly a plane back to London.
A shocked co-worker raised the alarm hours before Beaton was due to co-pilot a flight from South Africa to Britain after he revealed his night of debauchery.
The pilot’s behaviour forced the airline to delay the flight for 24 hours while it tried to find a suitable replacement for him, costing BA more a million rand, British publications reported.
When Beaton, from Devon in the UK, returned to Britain he was forced to undergo a drugs test, which reportedly came back positive.
British Airways has insisted there was no risk to passengers. It said he no longer worked for the company.
The pilot had been in Johannesburg on downtime, and was set to co-pilot the flight back to London.
But he revealed to a colleague that things had gotten out of hand after meeting with a Welsh woman, a Spanish woman and two men at a nightclub in the city.
He said that after going back to the hotel for “one last one before bed”, things turned raunchy with “a bit of snogging, and then we’re somehow all on our way to this dude’s flat”.
“Welsh has decided that I should actually be her boyfriend – Spanish has hooked up with one of the two local lads and is having her t**s sucked on their sofa.”
The father then boasted about how the “girls are dancing topless” and he decided to do the same, before one of the two men brought out cocaine.
“So then, there’s a debate about whose chest is the best to do a bump off,” he bragged.
“That’s the story of how I ended up snorting coke off a girl's t**s in Joburg.”
He said the night hadn’t end there though, adding that he “stayed the night with Welsh, has sex with her for ages (I guess the coke played a part) and then was so f** I couldn’t even lift my head until gone 2.”
A source at the airline told UK publications this week that managers were furious when his behaviour was reported to them by his colleagues.
They said the pilot had “hoisted himself by his own petard”. Although there would have been no alcohol in his system on his return to the UK, they added: “He will never fly again.”
A spokesperson for British Airways told Daily Mail: “Safety is always our top priority. The matter was referred to the CAA and this individual no longer works for us.”
The Civil Aviation Authority said it had strict procedures in place for when pilots misused alcohol or drugs.
“An airline must immediately inform us if a UK pilot has misused drink or drugs boarding, or been on board an aircraft,’' it said.
“In these cases we would immediately suspend the pilot's medical which means they cannot fly.”
“In most cases the pilot would have an assessment with an expert medical team and if they wished to return to flying then a comprehensive rehabilitation programme would be put in place.”
“The medical would only be reinstated if we were completely satisfied.”
When confronted by reporters from the paper, Beaton’s wife refused to comment, saying: “You must speak to my husband about it.“
A pilot at British Airways has spoken of the disgust felt among flight crews at the airline over the behaviour of Beaton.
A BA captain, speaking anonymously, said: “Talking to pilot colleagues, we feel hugely let down by this individual.”
When asked how common it was for a pilot to be affected by alcohol in the cockpit, he replied: “It’s beyond rare. Unthinkable.”
British Airways has told its staff to report any concerns they had about senior colleagues taking drugs after Beaton’s wrongdoing.
It is a remarkable fall from grace for Beaton, who lives in an idyllic multimillion rand home in Devon with his Polish wife and their five-year-old daughter.
They run a luxury tree house retreat business together called Happy Owls, which featured in The Times top 12 tree house hotels this year.