A very senior pilot of Mihin Lanka carried his personal weighing scale on two of his flights from Colombo to Sharjah and back, to trap suspected ground staff colleagues of the airline at the gulf station, who he claims were permitting excess baggage to selected passengers, which made the airline lose millions of rupees in revenue that also impacted the overall flight safety, Colombo Telegraph reliably learns.
“Ground staff of certain airlines around the world are noted to be involved in rackets of this nature as regular travelers opt to pay unscrupulous airline employees monies illegally to have their excess baggage waved off. Moreover it is a flight safety risk of not accounting the exact weight weight distribution and also for refueling purposes” confirmed a Mihin Lanka employee on condition of anonymity. He also went on to sate that most airlines carry spot checks in these areas and in the budget airline’s case it is mandatory that this is seriously looked into.
The senior pilot operated back to back flights on the 24th and 31st of July 2014 from Colombo to Sharjah and back and on both occasions got his operating flight attendants to identify large cabin baggage that passengers were bringing on board.
The pilot in his first report informed the airline that a particular bag weighing 32 kg had slipped through among many other carry on baggage that weighed well over the airline’s permitted limit.
In his second report he complained that over 15 bags were carried by passengers on board weighing over 15 kgs each.
The airline employee who wished to remain anonymous stated that this a serious issue that warrants immediate action. “We already have cabin crew who are not assigned flying duties relating to injuries sustained on board due to assisting passengers with the carriage of these heavy bags that requires to be stowed in the over head compartments. Further as a low cost carrier, every paid kilo gram of excess baggage brought on board is of valuable revenue” concluded the employee.
A passenger whose details were also furnished by the pilot in his report, had stated that monies had been exchanged between travelers and ground staff without the issuance of receipts.
The two voyage reports were addressed by the pilot to the airline’s Director Flight Operations Capt. Pujitha Jayakody, who himself had once been arrested by the Singaporean police for shoplifting whilst on official duty.
However it is reported that the airline had not taken any action still.
Published below is the Pilot’s two Voyage Reports.
VR – 407/408 DD 24/07/15
STD OMSJ 1750 UTC / ATA 1745 UTC
SLOT TIME 1931 UTC ( 1HR 30MNTS ON GROUND)
GROUND STAFF ARRIVED AT A/C AT 1810Z ON REQ VIA ONBOARD MOBILE PHN.
G/STAFF WERE BRIEFED REG FSI 0092 DD 24/07/15 ( GUIDELINES/ SLOT ) WHERE IT STATES ” ALL STATIONS INSTRUCTED TO STRICTLY FOLLOW GUIDELINES”. HOWEVER BOTH STAFF MEMBERS STATED THEY WERE NOT IN RECEIPT OF SUCH.
GUIDELINES WERE ISSUED BY PIC REG BOARDING / EXCESS HAND ETC. DUE 196 PAX, A RANDOM CHECK ON CABIN BAGS WAS CARRIED OUT AND FOUND SEVERAL PIECES WEIGHING OVER 32KGS ! IT IS SHOCKING HOW SUCH HEAVY PEICES ARE ALLOWED ONBOARD DESPITE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN ON SO MANY OCCASIONS.
G/STAFF CLAIMS THEY ARE INSTRUCTED TO ALLOW ALL PAX 10KGS EACH NOW ( FLT CREW HAVE NO SUCH INSTRUCTIONS ) EVEN SO, HOW COME 32KGS WERE ACCEPTED ? OTHER AIRLINES OPERATING OUT OF THIS STATION ARE STRANGELY NOT PLAGUED BY THIS SERIOUS THREAT TO AVIATION. PROPER ACTION IS NEEDED AS INSTRUCTIONS ARE BEING VIOLATED WITH IMPUNITY.
THE TECH / CABIN CREW WERE THREATENED WITH FURTHER SLOT DELAYS IF BAGS WERE WEIGHED STATING THAT SLOT TIMES EXCEEDING 2 HRS WOULD BE REQUIRED IF DONE ! THE PIC ACCEPTED THE CHALLENGE BUT ENSURED THE AC PUSHED BACK ON TIME WITH A FULL LOAD OF PAX. KINDLY ADVISE MS INOKA TO STOP INTIMIDATING FLT CREW IN FUTURE.
SHALL AWAIT THE OUTCOME OF THIS REPORT. ASR FILED.
VR – 407/8 – 31/7/15
ATTN DFO
THIS IS THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE VOYAGE REPORT ( PREVIOUS DD 24th JULY ’15) RAISED ON A SERIOUS SAFETY RELATED MATTER ON THE VIOLATION OF LAID DOWN INSTRUCTIONS ( FSI 042 ) & COMPANY / INTL REGULATIONS ON THE CARRIAGE OF HAND LUGGAGE.
MJ 407 ARRVD 15MNTS AHEAD OF SCHD AT SHJ ( 1740Z ) BUT THE COMPANY STAFF ARRIVED AT AIRCRAFT AT 1905 Z ( 1hr 25mnts AFTER ARRIVAL ). IS THIS THE COMPANY POLICY ?
DUE SLOT OF 2012Z, REQUESTED PAX BOARDING AS PER FSI 092. WITH A FULL LOAD OF 196 PAX, THERE WAS A SEVERE SHORTAGE OF SPACE FOR HAND LUGGAGE AS SEVERAL PASSENGERS WERE CARRYING IN EXCESS OF TWO HEAVY BAGS ( NOT DUTY FREE) ! 15 BAGS WEIGHED IN EXCESS OF 15KGS EACH ( PLS SEE CABIN VR FOR DETAILS) AND HAD TO BE RETRIEVED. HAS THE COMPANY POLICY CHANGED ? SOME PASSENGERS OBJECTED, CLAIMING THEY HAD PAID AS MUCH AS AED 300. NO RECEIPTS BUT CLAIMED THAT THE MONEY WAS COLLECTED BY MINOR STAFF AT BAGGAGE LOADING ON THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE ‘LADY’. PAX SEAT NO 33B Mr CHINTAKA (MOBILE. +941 472236300) CONFIRMED THAT CASH WAS COLLECTED FROM SEVERAL PASSENGERS.
THIS MATTER NEEDS TO BE QUERIED ASAP. IT HAS BEEN OBVIOUS TO ALL CONCERNED THAT A SERIOUS MALPRACTICE EXISTS, BLEEDING THE AIRLINE OF MUCH NEEDED REVENUE AND CREATING A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE ENDANGERING THE LIVES OF ALL ONBOARD.
IF HAND LUGGAGE REGS ARE BEING VIOLATED WITH IMPUNITY, THE CHECKED LUGGAGE VIOLATIONS CAN ONLY BE IMAGINED !
IN THE PRESENCE OF CREW, VERBAL THREATS HAD BEEN LEVELED AT CAPTAINS WHO MAKE IT DIFFICULT FOR HER WITH THREAT OF RELEASING PHOTOS ON FB !
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THE U/SIGNED HAS HEARD OF SUCH FROM A SUBORDINATE !! IT IS HOPED THAT SUCH BRASH & UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR IS ADDRESSED WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY
IS A ‘PERSONAL BUSINESS’ AFFECTED HERE ?!
Rohan / August 23, 2015
Ha! Penny Wise Pound Foolish….?
The CEO pumps out money on travel and on his ‘associates’. We sens plane loads of people to have a good time in New York and other global capitals with the leaders for excursions. Mihin even diverts the route of a plane to pick up a puppy for a powerful man. We are measuring grams to charge a few rupees.
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John / August 24, 2015
This Pilot looks too big for his shoes
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shankar / August 23, 2015
privatise mihin lanka.Why have this headache for the public.The average person in this country hardly travels abroad,but has to pay hefty taxes for this airline and will have to pay off the debts for generations to come.Mihin lanka was the brainchild of sajin vaas to rob the country.may he rot for ever in jail,the bastard.mangala also as minister of aviation resigned when when MARA’s pimp got the airline approved over his head.
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shiham / August 23, 2015
I am a very frequent traveller of this route , fly mostly twice a week ,The only problem I see is the delay departure every day Once i had to pay excess baggage , and they were not ready to give even 5 kgs free ,, so I had to pay and a receipt was given for my payment , from the payment counter .I have never seen or experienced any situation as above …
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mihincabincrew / August 23, 2015
This very senoir pilot is taken out from all Sharjah bound flights as a punishment for his indecent behaviour ..Catching up web news and Social media assistance is the only favour for himself now
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fabian lowe / August 23, 2015
Being a frequent traveler on Mihin in & out UAE which i have observed so far is it’s a wonderful service me & my family have received specially from the ground staff was in dubai as well as presently in sharjah.
It hearts us alot to see these type of stupid comments on such a nice staff including a reputed captain like capt pujitha since we have seen the way of handling from years.
I personally feel above comments are such a crap written by someone purely on the purpose of insulting the airline & it’s employess.
I have traveled so many times with mihin from sharjah & what i don’t understand is how a captain can comment false information since my family members were on that flight,there was a very strict hand bag check at the boarding gate for each passenger & even our family members they had to remove whatever more than 10kg on their hand baggage.We inquired about the excess payment option & same facility was not available. The only option was adjust our hand baggage weight which is a fare decision by airline.
the ground staff applied the same thing for everyone since my family members have noticed it until last minute at the boarding gate as they were the last to go in to the flight.
but these type of unbelievable false articles by captains or cabin crew or who ever it is will be so harmful for the goodwill of the airline.
As passengers,we will be ended up losing mihin to fly in near future.
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Peace Lover / August 24, 2015
@ Fabian you say “what i don’t understand is how a captain can comment false information since my family members were on that flight”
Dont you know that its the Captains responsibiltiy to ensure the safety of the aircraft and also look after the interests of Mihin Lanka!
You seem to be a sour grape who got affected or got caught in the scam!
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thilanga perera / August 23, 2015
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Ex Aviation staff / August 23, 2015
Though Excess Baggage is hardly a major source of revenue for the Airline this facility is commonly used by Commercial/Sales staff as an incentive to attract more passengers sometimes at the expense of Safety of passengers/crew.Given the quality of Commercial Management of the Airline it is very doubtful they are capable of introducing better alternate ways to increase sales.
Now that a new Government is in place a decision on the future of Mihin which hitherto has been a heavy Burden on tax payers of this country,has to to be taken on an urgent Basis.Infusing additional Capital will not help the Airline as long as it is continued to be managed by the same Senior management. While most of the heads of Departments are not professionally qualified to hold their respective positions they simply owe their current positions on account of their allegiance to the founding CEO of the Airline.(though they may have disowned him by now)and their blind acquiescence to the previous CEO
Much has been said about Mihin in the last few months while no action seem to be forthcoming.At least now with a strong Governemnt it is time for some remedial action (even radical) be taken.Future of some 200 staff is of lesser importance when compared to Tax payers money the Airline keeps on wasting.
This country simply cannot afford to upkeep 2 Airlines just to protect Egos
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Turbulence / August 23, 2015
I guess this pilot also may have had enough of the nonsense that the ground staff get up to at times. Wonder why any action was not taken when it was first reported? what was the management doing during the week between the two flights? it should have been nipped in the bud immediately. This is an absolute good opportunity to wipe out all corruption during this time of good governance. Perhaps something needed to be done as the airline’s management slept through all of this and resort to the media at least for necessary action to be taken. This story is hilarious but I am sure it may prove to be effective eventually.
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Jerard / August 23, 2015
Seriously…..??
Pilots are there to fly the planes, and management is there to take action against irregularities. This is what happens in most airlines, when pilots think they are God gifted and take ALL matters to their own hands. I suggest this pilot be fired to send the right message across the board that they are there to do a certain job and not micro manage the organization….then take right action on member/s of other staff if claims are justifiable!
I find this Pilots actions, rather hilarious and disgusting at the same time.
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captainvinodth / August 23, 2015
Poor Captain Lalith Wijethunga ,, he should be sent to Parliment to sit with his fellow JVP members rather than earning bread and butter from flying broken aircratfs of a low cost airline.He should be given a chance from the National list.
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abdulla / August 23, 2015
I do not know whether this is true or false ..But this person who gave the web report must be punished for giving out company’s internal communication to satisfy somebody’s personnel ideas
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thilanga perera / August 23, 2015
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justice / August 23, 2015
Everyone wants to make a ‘fast buck’ – including public servants and those who serve in state enterprises – the most profligate of which is our airline.
This ‘baggage racket’ is only the ‘tip of the iceberg’.
If the management is corrupt/unfit to hold posts/selected on political considerations, they turn a ‘blind eye’ to indiscipline and corruption.
We have a long way to go, before the airline turns a profit.
I hope the new – to be appointed – minister will take personal interest.
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Turbulence / August 23, 2015
When the top is corrupt it filters down. That is why perhaps the reported incident was not dealt with. My gosh ! I just noticed that the Director Flight Operations also has a bad past of robbing. So what can you expect. Maybe he is also in the racket and making a buck. That is why he is not doing anything. Is there any way that the messenger can be spared and the fraud dealt with? It is easy for us to criticize the pilot, but I feel he has opted for a desperate measure in this instance.
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Baila / August 23, 2015
Read the exposure and the many comments. Thank you CT for updating on what’s going on behind closed doors. Hats off to this Captain for his bold step in ensuring safety onboard his flights. It needs guts and this guy obviously has enough to catch a bull by its horns.
Shame on those posting negative comments and attempting personal attacks on this true Captain. I hope that those commenting here under psedo names are not from aviation ( as their comments here show ). They haven’t grasped the issue at hand but imagine they are fit to comment – wildly ! Poor show of IQ
Of course it is the Captain and the crew who are the final barrier to prevent a crash and this crew had done a stellar job.
Thank you Captain and your crew !
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bo / August 23, 2015
Captain is right to expose corruption. Don’t shoot the messenger, shoot corruption and nepotism!
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sky / August 24, 2015
Mihin Lanka is full of corruption .All their big seats are full of corrupted people including the infamous chairman and ceo with their yes men.It was very visual their amount of corrution not in simple kilos of baggage but is plenty of cash ,Millions or trillions , What was this captain doing when the full company was at such level?It seems the he was also a part of the big team and trying to pull the legs of some junior staff to cover the mud on him .We are trying to make a puppet hero who can issue kalaa paththara ( in good sinhalese )only for juniors which has to be proved .But what about the proven well known cases of this Airline ? I respect the captain’s intention.But it has to be fair in a company full of suckers of its profit.First catch the big bosses in your team who has showed us big games .
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Douglas / August 24, 2015
It is hard to believe this story. Imagine a Flight Captain carrying scale to weigh the carry on bags of passengers. At point does he weigh such bags and how accurate such weighing? This type of “unethical” behavior on the part of the “Commanding Officer” of the flight looks disgraceful and does not speak good for the airline. I know, certain airlines have deployed their ground staff to retrieve such “bulky” and “overweight” carry on bags at the entry point to the aircraft. I am also told that some airlines have placed specially made “boxes” at the check in counter to arrest this situation. The passengers who carry such “bulky” bags are asked to place it inside that “box” and if that does not fit in well, such luggage is considered “check in luggage” and not aloud inside the cabin. Of course, in certain cases at some airports the check in staff resort to assist friends and relations and also for monetary considerations. Admittedly if overweight luggage is allowed on board or in the cargo hold, that could create a hazard and that has to be avoided at any cost. But that is a matter for the ground staff to handle and be made responsible; but not certainly the Flight Captain. Yet his attention being drawn to this and instituting appropriate action to arrest such a situation falls within his purview too; but certainly not to carry a weighing scale and weight the luggage. Interestingly what happened to the staff who passed through such overweight and bulky luggage in his flight? Any disciplinary action taken? It is a serious breach of trust placed in them and also must be dealt with all the seriousness as it involved the “safety” of the aircraft and the passengers.
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edward thennakoon / August 24, 2015
the issue here is the duty free shops promotions….if you visit Dubai duty free you will see items such as large TV’s, kitchen appliances and other electronic stuff are on promotions and sold at very competitive prices. Passengers are tempted to buy these stuff and even the liquor is being sold with promotions like buy two get one free kind of promotions…all these stuff adds to cabin baggage weight that the ordinary passenger is not fully aware until their encountered by the airline staff or cabin crew at the aircraft gate.There should be more regulatory restrictions for Duty Free shops to sell only items that are less than 2-3 kgs of weight. Then there must be weighing scales fixed in every duty free shop selling such bulking items so the passenger can see whether their over the permitted by weighing his personal hand carry stuff. That is the only way to curtail this menace.
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Naga / August 24, 2015
I don’t know why a few passengers taking excess weight baggage is made a big issue by these Mihin Lanka pilots. A few may carry excess weight baggages but many others will not be having much luggage. Usually this would cancell out any weight increase.
In any case, I have not heard of any airplane crashes because of allowing excess weight baggages.
Many Sri Lankans returning home or coming home for vacation from their Middle East jobs try to squeeze in more things in their hand luggages. This is understandable. These poor souls try to save a few dollars they saved having worked so hard in the Middle East deserts.
Further, many airlines now give increased luggage of 30 Kgs. Singapore Airlines is one such airline.
Mihin Lanka is not that great an airline for its pilots to carry weighing scales. This kind of over enthusiasm on the part of these Mihin Lanka pilots to earn a few more dollars for the airline will not earn Mihin Lanka more passengers. These senior pilot guys must be stupid to carry weighing scales with them. Pilots of other reputed airlines will be laughing through their posteriors if they hear this story of these stupid senior Mihin Lanka pilots.
I wonder why a reputed website journal like Colombo Telegraph had given this much space to highlight this stupid story of these stupid Mihin Lanka pilots.
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Rosy / August 24, 2015
Dear Naga,
Are you a Pilot ? Guess not by those comments eh? Have you flown on that airline ? Perhaps not. So should you comment ? Certainly not. Too many with limited knowledge on aviation has thrown in their two cents worth here. I’m not a pilot but ex cabin crew and I know that this is a huge problem, a silent killer of revenue and perhaps one day, valuable lives. It could’ve been my life too. Do you know that Mihin allows 40kgs of checked in luggage from the ME ? If not, please shut up without allowing your posterior to jabber too much.
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Strat / August 24, 2015
This is not a pilots job and passengers could buy even duty free items after cheking -IN if the Pilot is getting involved in Ground handling job the next time he better come and stay at checking counters and Monitor Checking and do the Boarding acccordingly.
My question is Who is this Crack Pilot …….is he a Rathnayake???
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Sam / August 25, 2015
This captain was terminated from sri Lanka airforce and then again removed from sri Lankan airlines for his suspicious behaviour of mental unstability.Mihin Lanka is the only place he could servive this long, even air Asia has terminated him .these type of psychos are the pilots who sucide with passengers on board just the way the German low cost carrier ended up.he is sick .have mercy on him .let him enjoy his days replying to this crap endlessly .
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Safety / August 25, 2015
Sam, you are a pathetic psychopath aren’t you ? Those in aviation know him as a straight talking and a very professional chap. Obviously you are terribly jealous of his abilities and the standing he has.
For your information, he was never sacked from any place. Feel so sad for you though, may you and your likes rot in hell for trying to tarnish a good image
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hemal munasinghe / August 26, 2015
Sam…..Totally agree with you..I too know the history of this psycho captain…He is a guy who has been terminated/Sacked from so many places & stuck in Mihin like a bed bug now…
there could be very few in the world like this & only 01 can be in mihin he is LALITH WIJETHUNGHE…
Appreciate that you have mentioned his real history on his career as a captain to educate all the people to understand the reality on this not to waste their precious time on reading & commenting on this foolish article written by a mentally unstable guy.
Even I strongly believe COLOMBO DAILY TELEGRAPH also should be more accurate on their articles before they publish these type of stupid & rubbish articles without finding what the reality is?
Don’t be that much cheaper on selecting & publishing articles without maintaining a proper standard.
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Baila / August 26, 2015
Sam & Hemal, it is surprising that your malicious and unfounded comments have crept in here. Those who know him know better, by the looks of it you both are part of the mafia here. That’s so plain to see.
On the other hand if you have any proof, any proof, please post that instead of malicious claims. Anyway the person in question here will not care two hoots for your stupid comments as he knows what it is like to hit the aviation mafia. On the otherhand if you are really gutty, give your real name without hiding behind. I haven’t quoted names so I remain your Baila ok ?
Take this challenge or just shut up
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chuti putha / August 26, 2015
Seems like all the ex air force guys are phycos. we still see one Samarakoon playing havoc and the others who hate him , another drunken who was sacked and eventually taken up then command at Mihin.
Problem with Mihin is the leadership. When the top man pujitha is a crook then he cn be manipulated by the crooks as well. this place is become a heaven for crooks, There was this article last year where a young Pilot who was sacked then found his license were forged was invited by Mihin for a placement’ eventually his whole history was exposed in the paper and Mihin eventually backtracked, CAA also backtracked nd then the cat was out of the basket where A certain captain influenced the CAA to issue a no objection letter so that this chap can do his A320rating with him and join Mihin.
Another chap got for buying his ATPl results from CAA while flying at Mihin and eventually he was caught while he was boasting with friends how he paid for the questions, he joined Sri Lankan airlines then asked to leave, not sacked where he now flies in Vietnam.
People are not educated on how Mihin charges officially usd 75000 and kickbacks of another usd 10000 to the director operations Captain to get in and pass that silly compass exam.
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Hiddenone / August 26, 2015
Chuti putha is the latest loose cannon here. The thread is on another matter chuti, not to hit any Air Force guy. Too many had tried and failed to get in there we know so it’s a bit of sour grapes for them. As for license buying episode we know that the majority of those buyers are flying for Sti Lankan airlines and not the smaller outfit Mihin. That place had just one and he accepted fault and left but the Sri Lankan ones chose not to admit so they stayed on. Arent you one of them ?
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cabin safety / August 26, 2015
Those who talk bad about this pilot are malicious of ground staff who got caught at gulf station.this pilot has done the right thing which all pilots and cabin crew should do to make a safe flight. Unfortunately many pilots and cabin crew ignore this cz they are scared to hierarchy and fair enough bcz once they report this the person who reported will get hard times from hierarchy so no wonder many do not report. Some one had comment that many airline give 30kg to 40kg as baggage allowance yes i agree but that is checked baggage not hand luggage. No airlines allow more than 7kg of hand luggage may be they extend up to 10kg not 32kg for sure. So pls who ever criticizing this pilot know the fact before you comment cz he is not talking only for his benefits he is talking about the passenger safety. Guys don’t play on safety cz one day u or me can be a victim on a safety violated flight.
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Cloudy Skies / August 27, 2015
CT… Sam and Hemal Munasinghe have mentioned names here which I feel is not correct. This is defamation of character and can these two gentlemen own up first and then substantiate their claims. Or will CT do something about it. Many on this forum know each other and write under guise and I am sure many pilots names can be dragged in here unnecessarily. CT…I believe in your story no name of the pilot is mentioned and it is probably not fair for speculation and tarnishing of a professional pilot, whoever it maybe. If this goes on and if the same courtesy is extended to all commentators as Sam and Hemal have been provided by CT, I am sure many pilots and their flaws will be exposed here by name. Hope CT plays fair by the others too if they choose to write.
Sam and Hemal Munasnghe shame on the two of you.
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