Pilots suspended for letting model pose in cockpit

Two Vietnamese pilots were fined 250 dollars each and suspended for a month after allowing a celebrity model to pose for photographs in the cockpit mid-flight, an official said Friday.

The pilots’ actions were “a threat to aviation security and should be punished,” said Nguyen Trong Thang, chief inspector with the Vietnam Aviation Agency.

The incident occurred on a Vietnam Airlines flight from Hong Kong to Hanoi last month when model-turned actress Ly Nha Ky, who is also Vietnam’s tourism ambassador, posed in the co-pilot’s seat.

In the photograph published by news website vietbao.vn, she is seen looking back towards the camera wearing a pilot’s hat and sunglasses, while the captain next to her is also turned away from the controls to look at the camera.

The autopilot was on at the time, the agency said, but because the co-pilot left his seat, it was still a violation of aviation safety regulations.