Belgian pilot sacked for ‘personal reasons’

1 September 2005

BRUSSELS — Turkish Airline Fly Air has said it sacked Belgian pilot Peter Thys for personal reasons and not because he decided to make an emergency landing out of safety precautions.

It was reported earlier this week that Thys was sacked after making an emergency landing when he noticed a technical defect with an Airbus during take-off from Paris last week.

The Airbus A-300 was carrying 235 passengers and was heading for Djerba, but the pilot decided to return to the Orly Airport soon after take-off.

French authorities had applauded the Belgian pilot’s decision and Thys then flew the empty plane back to Djerba after it underwent emergency repairs.

However, Fly Air later informed him that he could start looking for another job. The letter of notice said he had damaged the company commercially.

Fly Air explained its position further on Thursday, saying that Thys was sacked because he had personal problems.

Thys had earlier returned to the Greek capital Athens — where he has lived for some time — on Wednesday night, newspaper ‘Het Gazet van Antwerpen’ reported.

The Fly Air plane has flown to and from Zaventem Airport in Brussels since the incident last week, but the airline is not included on Belgium’s blacklist of unfit airlines.

[Copyright Expatica News 2005]

Subject: Belgian news