Photo: Captain suspended for sleeping in business class leaving trainee pilot to fly plane

A senior pilot has been suspended after he was pictured sleeping on board a plane he should have been flying.

Captain Amir Akhtar Hashmi is accused of putting passengers' lives at risk by leaving a trainee at the controls of a packed jet to nap in a business class seat.

Hashmi allegedly slept for two-and-a-half-hours on board the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Islamabad to London on April 26.


A passenger, who filed a complaint with the airline, took a picture of the snoozing pilot and shared the snap on social media.

Hashmi is believed to have handed over the controls of the plane, which was carrying 305 passengers, to a trainee pilot soon after takeoff.

He was removed from flying duty and an investigation is underway, PIA spokesperson Danyal Gilani said.

According to the Dawn , PIA was initially reluctant to act against Hashmi, who is the former president of the Pakistan Air Lines Pilots Association (PALPA), "but later caved in to pressure from above".

Hashmi was in charge of operating the London-bound flight with first officer Ali Hassan Yazdani.

Another first officer, Mohammad Asad Ali, who was under training, was also in the cockpit, the Dawn reported.

Culled from Daily Mirror