A senior pilot at Cathay Pacific has been sacked for carrying out an unauthorised flypast at very low level during the delivery flight of a Boeing 777-300ER. After take-off from Boeing's Everett plant near Seattle for Hong Kong during the 30 January delivery flight, the captain - chief 777 pilot Ian Wilkinson - returned the aircraft to the airfield and made a low-level flypast with the landing gear up. On board at the time were around 60 people, including Cathay chairman Christopher Pratt, says a source. The airline says that the pilot in command was dismissed "as he had not sought nor obtained the necessary company approval to undertake such a fly-by".




Source: Flight International