British Airways pilot sacked for snorting cocaine off lady’s chest returns to cockpit
A British Airways pilot’s booze and drug-fuelled antics led to him being sacked from the passenger airline in 2023 – but one company has now given him a second chance
A British Airways pilot who was sacked for snorting cocaine off a woman’s chest has been given a second chance and is back in the cockpit.
Boasting about his antics in 2023, Mike Beaton told his stewardess colleague “I’ve been a very naughty boy.” This followed a night of drunken antics in which the pilot described having gone out with two men local to Johannesburg, South Africa, a Spanish woman and a female holidaygoer.
The night, which occurred before a return flight back to London, saw the five meet at a nightclub before going back to one of the men’s flats to take cocaine, according to reports.
In a text seen by The Sun, the married father wrote: “I’ve lost my shirt somewhere and one of the local lads produces a plate with a few lines of coke. So then there’s a debate about whose chest is the best to do a bump off.
“I was so f****d I couldn’t lift my head until 2.”
In further revelations, the former BA pilot said he stayed the night and “sh**** fo aggges” adding “guess the coke played a part”.
The alarm was raised by a concerned co-worker and the flight Beaton was due to be on was subsequently cancelled, costing BA an estimated £100,000. He was flown back to Heathrow Airport as a passenger the next day and had to take a drugs test.
Beaton, a dad from Devon, tested positive and was later sacked, but he is now back in the cockpit working for European Cargo, a freight carrier based in Bournemouth.
A furious aviation source told The Sun: “I think it’s disgusting that he was allowed to fly planes again after what he did… The [Civil Aviation Authority] should have banned him from the flight deck for life.”
The CAA said a medical certificate required for pilots would be reinstated if the authority was “completely satisfied”. European Cargo has said all pilots meet CAA standards.
The Daily Star has approached the company for comment.
In 2023, a BA captain told the Mail Online that “pilot colleagues” felt “hugely let down” by his actions. The pilot, who remained anonymous, said it is “beyond rare” and “unthinkable” for an airline pilot to be affected by alcohol while they are in the cockpit.
Incidents of pilots being affected by drink or drugs in the cockpit remain extremely rare.
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