Criminal case launched against a captain who allowed female friend to co-pilot civilian plane

Yakutia investigators confirmed a 33 years old woman was invited to co-pilot a plane during 1 hour 40 minutes flight to the north of the republic. 

A criminal case was launched against the pilot of IrAero airline identified by local media as Kirill S., reported the press service of the East Siberian Transport Investigative Department.  

'We are carrying out a set of investigative activities aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the crime,’ said Yekaterina Plyaskina, deputy head of the department. 

The pilot was suspended until the end of the investigation, IrAero Airlines told Interfax news agency. 

The newbie ‘co-pilot’ Anna posted pictures and video of the flight on her Instagram account with hashtags ‘This was unbelievably cool’ and ‘Thank you!’

A close friend of the pilot came to his defence, saying that this was an innocent short encounter with Kirill being in full control of the plane. 

‘Kirill is one of best pilots I worked with. He was born with a plane wheel in his hands. He become a captain aged 26, and it could have been even earlier if the rules allowed it’, said the unidentified friend, according to Podyem news website. 

He insisted that the woman was only allowed to hold the wheel without ever getting control, blaming her for boasting about the video to her social media followers. 

‘She was his childhood friend,' said the friend. 'He sat her in the chair and she held on to the wheel, while his hands were on the second wheel, so nothing would have happened anyway. 

'She posted it online without a single idea of how much she was letting him down by doing so.’ 

Female passenger co-pilots a civilian plane with passengers on board

The plane can hold up to 52 passengers. 

The flight to Batagay-Alyta in the north of Yakutia, known to locals as Sakkyryr, was on 31 August this year. 

A criminal case was launched under article 238, part 1 of Russian Criminal code (provision of services violating health and safety requirements for consumers). 

Picures below show Sakkyryr airport (polet.ru) and one of IrAero AN-24 planes (IrAero)