A group of SWISS Air flight attendants are in hot water after a video emerged of them ‘wing walking’ 17 feet above the tarmac on the wing of a Boeing 777-300 airplane as they pull a variety of poses for what appears to be an impromptu and strictly unauthorized social media photoshoot.
The incident has embarrassed the Swiss flag carrier, with the airline’s chief of cabin crew telling flight attendants in a leaked internal memo that he was “angry and disappointed” with the crew members involved.
A passenger waiting to board SWISS flight LX93 from Buenos Aires to Zurich caught the antics of the crew on camera as they took turns to pose for photos on the wing of the aircraft – a practice that is strictly prohibited.
To get onto the wing, the flight attendants opened Door 3 Right – a door which should normally only ever be used in an emergency because it leads straight onto the wing and is not accessible by ground service equipment.
The video starts off with a female crew member posing for photos on the wing, before a male colleague joins her. A second part of the video shows other crew members posing for photos, including pulling a ‘Superman’ pose.
In a public statement, SWISS has denounced the actions of its own crew, saying the stunt was potentially life-threatening.
“What looks like fun in the video is life-threatening. The wings of the Boeing 777 are about five meters high,” the airline said in a statement. “A fall from that height onto the hard surface can be devastating. This behavior will not be tolerated.”
“The behavior of the employees in the video neither corresponds to our security requirements nor does it reflect the high level of professionalism of our employees,” the statement continued.
“We cannot condone this and have been in contact with the crew members concerned.”
The airline further added: “Stepping on the wings is not permitted for crew members – except in an emergency. This is reserved for our technical staff who are trained for such purposes and do so only with the prescribed safety measures, such as securing themselves with a rope.”
Martin Knuchel, SWISS’s chief of cabin crew, suggested, however, that none of the flight attendants involved in the photo shoot would be sacked, although Knuchel demanded an end to onboard social media videos.
Earlier this year, British Airways also tightened its social media guidelines after witnessing an uptick in pilots and flight attendants documenting their work lives on social networks like TikTok and Instagram.
British Airways became concerned after crew members started to reveal sensitive security-related information in their bid to gain followers and likes. Airlines have also found crew members ignoring their primary duties in order to ‘capture’ new content.
