A man who was about to go on a holiday together with his family has ended up flying the EasyJet plane himself after the pilot failed to show up.
Fortunately for the passengers, the man who replaced the pilot isn’t an action movie figure but a professional pilot who happened to bring his license with him.
After learning that the flight would be delayed because of the lack of pilot, Michael Bradley called in the office and suggested he flies the plane from Manchester, UK, to Alicante, Spain, instead.
“My wife, who’s on row 15 with my little boy – hopefully, he’s asleep by now, I should keep it down or else I’ll get told off – she rolled over and punched me in the back of the head and said, ‘Our flight’s delayed by two hours because they are minus one captain for the flight,’” the off-duty pilot was heard saying in a speech recorded by a fellow passenger.
“So just before we went through security I thought, ‘I wonder if this is worth a phone call…?’ I think it is because I’d like to go on holiday.
“I phoned up easyJet and said, ‘Hiya, I’m standing in the terminal doing nothing. I have got my license with me’ – deliberately from being punched in the back of the head at 3am – ‘I have got my ID with me and I’d very much like to go on holiday and if you need a favor I’m standing here ready to go.’”
As Michael added, he soon got called back and they asked him to fly the plane to Alicante.
“So if you’re alright for one of your pilots to look like this today, we’ll go to Alicante,” the pilot added to which the rest of the flight responded with cheering.
Following the flight, EasyJet spokesperson eased everyone’s minds by confirming that everything was done in accordance with laws and regulations.
“We are grateful to one of our pilots who was traveling on holiday from Manchester to Alicante on 2 September with his family and volunteered to operate the flight,” they said.
“This meant customers could get to their destination and shows the commitment and dedication of our crew. This is fully in line with regulations as he had his license and ID with him. Safety is always our highest priority.”
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