SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – A Southwest Airlines pilot departing from Mineta San Jose International Airport was reportedly caught in an open microphone delivering a profanity rant against the liberal population of the Bay Area, according to published reports.
The aviation and travel blog One Mile at a Time published the account of a Twitter user who posted air traffic control audio on March 13. One person said his flight was “ready to go”, followed by a series of F-bomb slurs.
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“F- this place, g-damn liberal fans.”
“Eight weapons here somewhere.”
“F-ing weirdos, probably driving around on f-ing Hyundas, f-ing roads- they go slow as f-.”
The audio was archived on Live ATC, a website that broadcasts and records air traffic control broadcasts.
Will Lawton, the Twitter user quoted by the blog, said in a Facebook post that he is sure that the person heard in the audio is a Southwest pilot.
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“I am very positive based on the same voice at the end of the speech saying ‘Southwest 531 ready to go’,” said Lawton, who indicates that he is a pilot on his Facebook profile.
A Southwest spokesman told the San Francisco Chronicle that the person being heard on the audio is an airline employee and was handling the situation internally.
“Our corporate culture is built on the principle of treating others with concern and dignity and the comments are inconsistent with the professional behavior and general respect we demand from our employees,” the spokesman told the Chronicle in a statement. “This situation was an isolated incident involving a single employee and not representative of Southwest Airlines’ nearly 60,000 hard-working and respectful people.”
FAA spokesman Ian Gregor told the Chronicle in a statement: “FAA regulations prohibit airline pilots from talking about matters unrelated to the safe conduct of their flights while taxiing and flying below 10,000 feet. altitude”.
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“The FAA is investigating communications made by an airline pilot while taxiing at Mineta San Jose International Airport last week,” the statement said. “The FAA also reported the incident to the airline.”