A Captain for SriLankan Airlines has been grounded after he reportedly locked the female First Officer out of the cockpit during a 10-hour flight from Sydney to Colombo over a dispute about the First Officer needing to use the toilet.
The incident occurred on September 21 but has only now come to light after the embattled airline, which is also a member of the OneWorld alliance, confirmed that it was cooperating with an investigation by Sri Lankan aviation regulators.
According to local media reports, the First Officer found herself locked out of the flight deck after briefly leaving the Captain alone in the cockpit while she went to use the lavatory.
Media sources claim that a senior flight attendant had to negotiate with the Captain using the airplane’s interphone system before he eventually allowed the First Officer to return to the cockpit.
Apparently, the pair had gotten into a verbal altercation prior to the First Officer leaving the cockpit because she didn’t first arrange for a member of cabin crew to sit in the flight deck while she was away.
Although regulations and rules differ from country to country and airline to airline, SriLankan Airlines requires at least two people to be in the cockpit at any one time.
In a statement, the airline confirmed that it had grounded the Captain involved in the incident aboard flight UL607 from Sydney to the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, on September 21. As many as 297 passengers could have been onboard the Airbus A330-300 at the time of the incident.
“The airline is fully cooperating with the relevant authorities, and the captain has been grounded pending the outcome of the investigation,” the statement explained. “Safety and compliance with all regulatory requirements remain SriLankan Airlines’ top priorities.”
