The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a Southwest Airlines pilot after he was caught in air traffic control broadcasts, apparently protesting the Bay Area in a swearing speech.
The pilot departed while taxiing at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, according to an FAA statement.
“Yes, f — this place. Damn liberal f —“, the pilot can be heard saying in the recording, which was archived and verified by Live ATC, a website that broadcasts live air traffic control broadcasts.
“F —— weird. Probably driving around in f —— Hyundais, f —— slow as s —, going slow as f —“, continued the pilot . “You don’t have balls unless you’re f —— coals … damn.”
The context of the comments is not known.
“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 in altitude,” FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said in a statement. . He added that the agency reported the incident to the airline.
SFGate reported that the pilot is an employee of Southwest.
In a statement to NBC News on Friday, the airline said it was “fully addressing 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 that we demand from our employees,” said the statement.
Southwest did not identify the pilot.
“This situation was an isolated incident involving a single employee and not representative of Southwest Airlines’ nearly 60,000 hard-working and respectful people,” the statement said.
