SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – A Southwest Airlines pilot taking off from Mineta San Jose International Airport has been caught by an open microphone launching an explanatory wake-up call against the liberal population in the Bay Area.
The aviation and travel blog One Mile at a Time posted the account of a Twitter user who posted air traffic control audio starting March 13th. He hears a person say his flight was “ready,” followed by a series of f-bomb insults.
“F- this place, g – damn liberal fs.”
“Eight guns out here somewhere as they are.”
“Strange f-ing, probably circulating on f-ing Hyundas, f-ing roads and s- going slow as f- ing.”
The audio was archived on Live ATC, a website that broadcasts live and records air traffic control broadcasts.
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Will Lawton, the Twitter user quoted by the blog, said in a Facebook post that he was positive that the person hearing the audio was a Southwestern pilot.
“I’m pretty positive based on the same voice that at the end of the statement says‘ Southwest 531 ready to go, ’” Lawton said, indicating that he is a pilot on his Facebook profile.
A spokesman for Southwest told KPIX 5 that the person heard in the audio was an employee of the airline.
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“Our corporate culture is based on a principle of treating others with concern and dignity and comments are inconsistent with the professional behavior and general respect we need from our employees,” the spokesman said in an emailed statement. “This situation was an isolated incident involving a single employee and was not representative of nearly 60,000 respectful people and Southwest Airlines workers. We do not speak publicly about employee-related issues, but we are fully addressing the situation internally.”
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FAA spokesman Ian Gregor told the San Francisco Chronicle in a statement: “FAA regulations prohibit airline pilots from talking about issues that are not related to the safe conduct of flight during filming and while flying. below 10,000 feet. “
“The FAA is investigating communications made by an airline pilot while flying at Mineta San Jose International Airport last week,” the statement said. “The FAA also reported the incident to the airline.”