Air France Suspends 2 Pilots for 'Totally Inappropriate' Behavior

Air France says two pilots have been suspended while management decides what to do about their "totally inappropriate behavior" on a flight in mid-June. The airline confirmed the suspensions after La Tribune reported that the captain and co-pilot brawled in the cockpit of an Airbus A320 flight from Paris to Geneva. According to the French newspaper, the altercation began when the co-pilot refused to follow an instruction during the climb phase after take-off. After what one pilot described as an "inadvertent blow" and the other described as a slap, the men grabbed each other's collars and one pilot allegedly threw a wooden object in the other man's face.

Members of the cabin crew overheard the altercation and stepped in to calm the situation, Simple Flying reports. One cabin crew member stayed in the cockpit to keep the peace for the remainder of the flight. An Air France spokeswoman confirmed the suspensions to Bloomberg and said the rest of the flight passed without incident. France's civil aviation safety investigation authority, the Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses, said it was not notified of the incident because there were no consequences for the flight. (More Air France stories.)