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A British Airways pilot was suspended and eventually fired after he was reported for drinking and using cocaine the night before a return flight to London.
Mike Beaton, a pilot with British Airways, had a night off after a flight to Johannesburg last month that he used to indulge in large amounts of alcohol and snort cocaine off the chest of a topless woman, according to a report from the New York Post.
Beaton, a married father of one, according to the report, revealed his night of antics to a fellow crew member before a return flight to London, telling her that he had been a “very naughty boy” during an exchange of text messages.
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A British Airways plane arrives at Marseille Provence Airport. (Photo by Gerard Bottino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The pilot reportedly told the flight attendant in the text exchange that he had met two local men, a Welsh woman and a “young Spanish bird” at a Johannesburg nightclub the night before, when they engaged in hours of drinking and eventually found themselves at one of the men’s apartment.
“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,” Beaton told his fellow crew member.
The pilot continued to boast that the “girls” were dancing topless when someone arrived with cocaine, leading him to take a “bump” of the drug himself.
“I’ve lost my shirt somewhere and one of the local lads produces a plate with a few lines of coke,” Beaton said. “So then there’s a debate about whose chest is the best to do a bump off.”
The Telkom Tower, right, surrounded by lit residential tower blocks and commercial buildings, viewed from the Ponte City Apartments building at night, in the Berea district of Johannesburg. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“That’s the story of how I ended up snorting coke off a girl’s t–s in Joburg,” he continued.
The pilot went on to explain that he “stayed the night with Welsh, sh– her for ages,” speculating that his use of cocaine may have “played a part” in the activities, adding that he was then was so “f—ed I couldn’t even lift my head until gone 2.”
When the pilot tried to fly the following day, the crew member reported his wild night out to the airline, causing British Airways to delay the 12-hour flight to Heathrow Airport in London and costing the airline a reported $120,000.
Speaking to the Sun, a British Airways source said that the behavior of the pilot stunned the airline.
A British Airways plane. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)
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“Of all the bad behavior that goes on downroute between flights, this incident is hard to believe,” the source told the outlet. “A first officer is trained rigorously and knows the law inside out. Their remit is protecting the safety of passengers.
“The idea of sending details of his drink and drugs session to a stewardess between flights is extraordinarily dumb,” the source added.
Beaton was reportedly suspended while still in Johannesburg and flown back to London as a passenger on another flight. Once there, he tested positive for the cocaine and was fired.
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“He will never fly again,” the airline source told the Sun, who confirmed with the airline that the pilot no longer works with the company.
Reached for comment by Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for British Airways confirmed that the pilot no longer works for the airline while stressing that at not time was the safety of British Airways passengers at risk.
“Safety is always our top priority,” the spokesperson said. “The matter was referred to the CAA [Civil Aviation Authority] and this individual no longer works for us.”