BA pilot suspended after breaking anti-terror rules by leaving cockpit door open during flight so family could see him
The captain wanted his family, who were among passengers from Heathrow to New York, to see him operating the controls, sources said.
His actions alarmed other fliers and, after crew reported him, he was grounded.
It meant return flight BA174, due in London last Friday, was cancelled — causing disruption for hundreds of passengers due to fly on the twin-engine Boeing 777-300.
The Civil Aviation Authority launched an urgent investigation into the security breach.
A source said: 'Crew and passengers immediately noticed the cockpit door was open and wanted to know what was happening.
"It made passengers incredibly uneasy.
'The door was wide open for a significant time — enough for people to worry and comment.
" BA colleagues were so alarmed that the pilot was reported in the US and bosses had to suspend him.'
Since the 9/11 terrorists hijacked US passenger jets and crashed them into New York skyscrapers in September 2001, security has been stepped up so the cockpit doors are always locked.
Sources at BA said the pilot's suspension was in line with policy.
He is already back flying as no security threat was identified.
Drunk easyJet pilot stuns guests at luxury hotel after he strips naked in bar following all-day drinking session
British Airways said: 'Safety and security is our top priority.'
2
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
TikTok migrant who gave a step-by-step guide on how to cross the Channel 'filmed a how to kill your wife rant weeks before boarding small boat to Britain'
A TikTok migrant who shared a 'step-by-step guide' on how to cross the Channel 'filmed a how to kill your wife rant weeks before boarding a small boat to Britain'. Parwiz Hanifyar, known online as Alexandra420, shared videos of his journey on TikTok and gained nearly one million views as he boasted about entering the UK illegally. Mr Hanifyar, who left Calais at around 4am on Saturday, even shared videos of himself on the small boat before live streaming in an asylum hotel. There, he told followers he was in 'the best place' while broadcasting from his free accommodation near Heathrow Airport. Now, it has been alleged that the TikTok migrant was reported to police for telling men how to kill their estranged wives in a social media clip filmed just weeks before he crossed the Channel, the Sun has reported. Speaking to his 70,000 followers from Germany, the Afghan, aged in his 20s, is said to have urged viewers to drink alcohol before attacking the women in a deliberate bid to get a softer sentence. In a disturbing clip in which he told viewers they 'must do this technique' using a household item, he said: 'Before I kill her, I drink a bottle of alcohol. 'When the police comes, they say, he was drunk.' Now, it has been alleged that the TikTok migrant (pictured) was reported to police for telling men how to kill their estranged wives in a social media clip filmed just weeks before he crossed the Channel, the Sun has reported Popular TikTok influencer Lemar is said to have been one of several individuals who reported the disturbing posts to the German authorities. However, Mr Hanifyar, who reportedly lived in Berlin for three years, then went on to relocate to France and later travelled to the UK. In response to the shocking video, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp described the language used by the migrant as 'sickening'. Adding that Mr Hanifyar posed a threat to the UK, Mr Philp demanded that he be arrested and deported as a matter of urgency. Mr Hanifyar first sparked outrage after sharing a video of himself grinning in an orange jacket and pointing to the sky. He then showed the boat as it was surrounded by huge freight ships, set to the theme tune of US drama Prison Break. The migrant was one of more than 400 arrivals on Saturday and was taken in by Border Force officials to be processed in Kent. He was then taken to the four-star Crowne Plaza Hotel near Heathrow, where he started live streaming to his followers. In the live stream, he gave viewers a tour of his room, with two single beds and an en suite bathroom. He said: 'This is dedicated to those haters who were happy thinking we either drowned or ended up dead.' Mr Hanifyar later claimed the boat he illegally travelled on began to deflate halfway through the journey and would have sank if Border Force officials had not rescued them. He said: 'It was dangerous. Our boat sank. It was punctured. The water came from the inside of the boat. 'On the other side, three people pumped the water. If the British boats hadn't come in an hour, we would have been in trouble.' Despite nearly facing serious danger, he encouraged others to pay the people-smugglers to risk the dangerous crossing. He said: 'I risked my life, I spent my money, I came. Your country is not your mother. 'Those who want to come, this is the best place. Don't be stingy. Your country is not your father, that you are so stingy. Live your life. 'Tell your four friends to come. Why are you so stingy? Being stingy is not good for God. You see, I risked my life! Why don't you come? My wish was to come to this hotel and live. I came here just for this.' It comes just days after a record 107 small boat migrants reached Britain in just one dingy, confounding Labour's pledge to 'smash the gangs'. Images from the port of Dover showed human traffickers have begun to deploy a new, longer type of inflatable. The dinghy - which can barely be described as a 'small boat' - was recovered in the Channel and taken to Dover, where it was being examined by Border Force and law enforcement, GB News reported. It brought 107 migrants to Britain overnight, smashing the previous record of 96 people aboard one inflatable. Meanwhile, the number of small-boat migrants reaching Britain under Labour passed 50,000. Keir Starmer has been slammed for 'incompetence' over the handling of the Channel crisis, with the soaring figure a clear indication of the lack of a plan since he axed the Tories' Rwanda deportation scheme on his first day in power. Former Labour home secretary Jacqui Smith blamed the Tories, claiming: 'What is happening is the result of the last government.' Pictured: A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to the Border Force compound in Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel on August 12 The Government's 'returns deal' with France appears to have done little to deter those determined to get to Britain, with the latest total including more than 1,500 arrivals in the seven days since the 'one in, one out' scheme launched. Pictured: migrants cross the Channel on August 6, 2024 In response, Reform Leader Nigel Farage criticised the Prime Minister on social media. He wrote: 'As I predicted five years ago, unless we deport illegal migrants the invasion will be huge. 50,000 since our weak Prime Minister took office and there is no sign of it stopping.' The Government's 'returns deal' with France appears to have done little to deter those determined to get to Britain, with the latest total including more than 1,500 arrivals in the seven days since the 'one in, one out' scheme launched. Official figures revealed there were 474 arrivals on Monday alone, bringing the total since the general election on July 4 last year to 50,271, despite the Prime Minister's promise to 'smash the gangs' behind the trafficking trade. The milestone was passed seven months earlier than under his Conservative predecessor, Rishi Sunak. Baroness Smith – who is now an education, women and equalities minister under Sir Keir – said: 'It is a completely legitimate claim to say that what is happening is the result of the last government that chose to focus on gimmicks with the Rwanda scheme.' Labour scrapped the Tories' Rwanda asylum deal – designed to deter migrants from crossing – as one of its first acts, pledging instead to 'smash the gangs' by boosting law enforcement. However, small boat numbers are soaring, with 27,029 arrivals this year, up by 47 per cent on the same point last year and 67 per cent on the same point in 2023. Since the start of the crisis in 2018, 178,167 migrants have reached Britain, with only about four per cent of them removed. The Home Office told The Sun that it does not comment on individual cases. In a previous statement issued regarding Mr Hanifyar, a Home Office spokesperson said: 'It is our long-standing policy not to comment on individual cases, but we have made clear that it is unacceptable for any individual, whether they are a member of a smuggling gang or otherwise, to promote the criminal services of people-traffickers or for social media companies to allow it. 'We are introducing specific laws through our Border Security Bill that will make it easier to prosecute individuals who publish material online which promotes or offers services facilitating small boat crossings, and these kinds of cases show why it is so essential for that Bill to be passed through Parliament at the earliest opportunity.' A TikTok spokesperson previously said: 'We take a zero-tolerance approach to content promoting human smuggling, this account has been banned and we remove the vast majority of content before it is even reported. 'Through industry-leading search interventions and close collaboration with the UK National Crime Agency, we work to identify and disrupt organised immigration crime online, adapting our efforts to meet evolving threats.'
Sky News
2 hours ago
- Sky News
Child sexual exploitation victims 'not in scope' of violence against women and girls strategy
Victims of child sexual exploitation are "not explicitly within the scope" of the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy being drafted by the government, Sky News can reveal. Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSEA) is a form of child abuse, described by police as a "critical threat" to women and girls. It includes crimes such as grooming, and can involve both physical contact, such as rape, or non-physical - like forcing children to look at sexual images. Sky News has been shown an internal Home Office document presented to various stakeholders in the sector. It's titled "Scope of the Strategy... Our draft definition of VAWG", and says that while it recognises "links" between VAWG and child sexual exploitation, it is not "explicitly within the scope of the strategy". "VAWG is Violence Against Women and Girls. If you take child sexual abuse out of it, where are the girls?" Poppy Eyre told Sky News. Poppy was sexually abused and raped by her grandfather when she was four. It wasn't until she was 11, after a PHSE lesson on abuse at school, that she understood the enormity of what had happened. "I remember very vividly when the police came round and told me… this is what we're charging him with," said Poppy. "We're charging him with sexual abuse and rape. And I remember being like, I had no idea that's what it was, but I know that's really bad." Poppy's grandfather was convicted and died in prison. She questions how authorities would police crime if child sexual abuse is excluded from an umbrella strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. "Are they holding child sexual abuse at the same level of importance as they are with violence against women? You'd hope so, but potentially not, because it doesn't need to be in the figures", she said. The government has pledged to halve VAWG within a decade, by 2035. "If the government are measuring themselves against halving violence against women and girls - if they're not looking at the scale of child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation within that - that will mean we are failing many young victims of abuse," said Andrea Simon, director of campaign group End Violence Against Women. The Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, which is funded by the Home Office, estimates 500,000 children in England and Wales are sexually abused every year. 'Danger' of having separate plan Rape Crisis told Sky News that "for any strategy to be effective" it "must include all forms of gender-based violence against all women and girls", suggesting there is a "danger" in having a separate plan for child sexual abuse. Its chief executive, Ciara Bergman, said it could create a "problematic and potentially very unhelpful" distinction between victims of domestic abuse, expected to be covered by the strategy, and child sexual abuse. "Some perpetrators of domestic abuse also sexually abuse their children," she told Sky News. The government insists the strategy will include action to tackle child sexual abuse, but says it also plans to create a distinctive programme to address its specific crimes. "Sexual abuse is violence against a child," said Poppy's mother, Miranda Eyre, who now works as a counsellor specialising in trauma. "It is violence against girls… and you can't separate it out," she said. "I'm speechless to be honest… it does make me quite angry." A Home Office spokesperson told Sky News it is "working tirelessly to tackle the scourges of violence against women and girls and child sexual abuse". "These issues are complex and run deep within the fabric of society," they added.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Warning shoplifting 'out of control' after Highland rise
Shoplifting is "out of control", a retail organisation has warned after police figures showed the crime had increased sharply in the Highlands in recent Against Crime said one of the problems was there were "little or no consequences" for persistent offenders.A Police Scotland report to Highland Council said the five-year average for shoplifting in the region was 919 incidents, while in 2023-24 there were 1,487 and a further 1,349 in Secretary Angela Constance said the Scottish government recognised the significant harm and disruption caused by retail crime in Scotland and had provided Police Scotland with an extra £3m to tackle the problem. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said it gave "careful consideration" to any reports of alleged criminal conduct. Retailers Against Crime director Maxine Fraser said shoplifting threatened to put small, family-run shops out of told BBC Scotland News: "We work very closely with Police Scotland and we know that they do as much as they can - they will stop offenders and have them arrested."Then if or when it goes to court there are virtually no consequences."If someone is a prolific offender why on earth would they stop if nothing is going to happen to them."Ms Fraser said she accepted jail time was not always the answer and suggested more emphasis be placed on rehabilitation and education - including teaching schoolchildren about the impact of said most of the crimes were not associated with the cost of living crisis but linked to serious and organised crime, or people who were stealing to make money from reselling the goods."It's out of control," she said. 'Massive amount' The police report was discussed at a meeting of Highland Council's communities and place committee on Scotland's North Division commander, Ch Supt Robert Shepherd, told the meeting: "We do see last year there was a massive, massive amount of shoplifting - twice the previous years'."He said the latest figures showed a drop, but added that officers were working to further reduce the number of Supt Shepherd also said an inspector was based in Inverness as part of a Scottish government-funded team targeting retail crime across Scotland. Justice Secretary Angela Constance said the additional funding had been provided as part of £1.6bn of investment in policing this said: "Police Scotland has established the Retail Crime Taskforce that is targeting affected areas to prevent crime and pursue those responsible."It is also working with retailers to identify ways in which they can enhance security and reduce incidents occurring."Punishments for shoplifting can include fines, community work and a prison said it was taking action to prosecute shoplifters.A spokesperson said: "COPFS will give careful consideration to any reports of alleged criminal conduct which are submitted by the police."Prosecutorial action will be taken if the reports contain sufficient admissible evidence of a crime and if it is appropriate and in the public interest to do so." Fraud also on the rise In January, police said rates of shoplifting and fraud in Inverness had increased over the previous 12 were 680 shoplifting incidents in 2024-25, almost 13% more than the 603 reported in 2023-24. For fraud, the figures were 155 incidents in 2023-24 and 168 in Scotland said the three-year average for shoplifting in the city was 423 incidents and 408 for the five-year a report to Highland Council, the force said the detection rate for the crime was 63% but only 14% for fraud.
