A SriLankan Airlines captain has been grounded, after he reportedly locked the first officer out of the flight deck, in a move intended to teach her a lesson…
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SriLankan pilot suspended over flight deck behavior
A SriLankan Airlines captain has been suspended, following his actions on a recent flight. Specifically, this happened on September 21, 2024, on flight UL607 from Sydney (SYD) to Colombo (CMB). The flight was operated by a nine-year-old Airbus A330-300 with the registration code 4R-ALR.
According to people familiar with the matter, this incident involves the way in which the first officer took a bathroom break. Under the carrier’s policy, there need to always be two people in the cockpit. Since the lavatory is outside the cockpit, that means a pilot needs to arrange for a flight attendant to enter the flight deck when they go to use the bathroom.
However, the captain reportedly clashed with the first officer, when she stepped out of the cockpit and used the lavatory, without arranging for another crew member to accompany him in the flight deck, in line with standard operating procedures at the airline. It’s not clear why the first officer wasn’t following company procedures.
Cabin crew reportedly had to persuade the captain to let the first officer back into the flight deck. The flight then landed back at its hub without further issues.
This incident is now being investigated by Sri Lanka’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and the airline has stated that it’s “fully cooperating with the relevant authorities, and the captain has been grounded pending the outcome of the investigation.”
SriLankan has been on the verge of collapse for quite some time, given the carrier’s debt. The government has been trying to privatize the airline, with no luck.
What a strange incident this is…
So if I’m understanding this situation correctly, the captain cared a lot about rules being followed, and wasn’t happy when the first officer left the cockpit without finding someone to replace her. Fair enough. But the problem is that his solution was to teach her a lesson by violating the rules even more, and locking everyone else out of the cockpit?
Nowadays airlines have varying policies when it comes to whether there need to be two people in the cockpit at all times. In some countries it’s standard for it to be required, while in other countries it isn’t.
The logic for having two people in the cockpit is primarily to prevent a pilot with a mental health issue from taking control of the aircraft, given that we’ve seen a fair number of pilot suicides over the years, when they were alone in the cockpit.
I’ve gotta say, the concept of a pilot intentionally locking a colleague out of the flight deck and refusing to open the door is kind of terrifying, given the incidents that we’ve seen in the past. Regardless of whether or not he was trying to teach her a lesson, it certainly makes you question the captain’s decision making ability.
Bottom line
A SriLankan Airlines captain has been suspended and is now being investigated, after he locked the first officer out of the cockpit, while enroute from Sydney to Colombo. He reportedly wasn’t happy with the way in which she exited the flight deck without having someone replace her, so his solution was to lock himself in there. It sounds like neither of these pilots have particularly good decision making abilities…
What do you make of this strange SriLankan Airlines situation?
I don’t understand this at all, the First Officer wouldn’t have just “bolted” from her seat . There would have been an interphone call made to the Cabin crew ( surely) that the F/O was needing to leave the flight deck and they needed a F/A to relieve her , so to speak, another story that hasn’t been fully explained and another reason I’d never fly with them again as my last flight was awful in all aspects
If this synopsis of events is accurate it seems that they both behaved inappropriately. Flight crews must operate their aircraft in accordance with the operating manual, company policy, and the law. In this case both the FO and captain have apparently violated company policy. I'm not certain why he's the only one who's grounded.
Certainly irresponsible and worthy of reprimand on both parts, but the captain's action was more egregious and a potential immediate safety threat.
The First Officer needs to be grounded until given opportunity to share her side of the story. Was she in danger of having a bladder/bowel accident and exited asap? Why did she not follow protocol? Etc. Is this a power issues over gender and role in sri lankan culture?
Someone is going to find out that there are other lesson givers in his organization
Shut up Tim!
"The logic for having two people in the cockpit is primarily to prevent a pilot with a mental health issue from taking control of the aircraft, given that we’ve seen a fair number of pilot suicides over the years, when they were alone in the cockpit."
That's a nice side effect of the policy, but not the primary reason. A second person needs to be in the cockpit primarily to open the door for the...
"The logic for having two people in the cockpit is primarily to prevent a pilot with a mental health issue from taking control of the aircraft, given that we’ve seen a fair number of pilot suicides over the years, when they were alone in the cockpit."
That's a nice side effect of the policy, but not the primary reason. A second person needs to be in the cockpit primarily to open the door for the second pilot in the event that the pilot remaining in the cockpit becomes incapacitated, such as a cardiac event or stroke.
Let's be honest... a pilot with mental issues could have both engines shut down before a flight attendant who came up to the cockpit even realizes anything is happening. She can't stop him from doing that, but she can let the other pilot back up if he does.
@ Michael -- It's my understanding that on most jets there's a code to enter the cockpit. If entered correctly, there's a chime in the cockpit, so the person inside can either accept or reject it. However, if neither is done, then the door automatically opens 30 seconds later. That would seem to deal with cockpit incapacitation issues. Is there something I'm missing?
Regarding pilots with mental health issues being able to do something when...
@ Michael -- It's my understanding that on most jets there's a code to enter the cockpit. If entered correctly, there's a chime in the cockpit, so the person inside can either accept or reject it. However, if neither is done, then the door automatically opens 30 seconds later. That would seem to deal with cockpit incapacitation issues. Is there something I'm missing?
Regarding pilots with mental health issues being able to do something when someone else is in the cockpit, that's theoretically true. But look at all the incidents we've seen over the years where a pilot intentionally took down a plane. In each situation, as far as I know, it was when they were alone in the cockpit.
The flight attendant is in the cockpit primarily to look through the viewing port, to verify it’s one of the pilots trying to get back into the cockpit, before they open the door.
Dumb to lock everyone out. Should have invited a flight attendant to sit in the cockpit until they landed, then make the first officer sit outside (in coach) and think about what she did.
"...make the first officer sit outside (in coach) and think about what she did."
This isn't kindergarten.
We have no idea why the FO couldn't wait, but personal "emergencies" do happen, and we have no idea why she couldn't wait. I suggest she be given the benefit of the doubt until the investigation is complete.
I am really shocked that Sri Lankan would only have two pilots on a flight from SYD to CMB. Most airlines have an extra pilot on flights over 9/10 hours.
Why are you assuming there weren’t 3? This obviously happened en route (over the course of a few minutes) when if a 3rd pilot was being carried they would ideally be fast asleep in their “rest facility”.
Wathever the reason that guy had, after what happened before (I'm just thinking of the intentional Crash of German Wings a few years ago in Southern France) that guy should be fined and baned to enter a plane for life, let alone a cockpit.