Pilot passes hat to fuel plane
NZPA-Reuter London
An airline pilot had to borrow from passengers to pay for fuel to get home when officials at an Atlantic island airport refused to accept his credit card. British Airways said the mix-up, which occurred eight days ago, involved a flight from Funchal, the capital of Madeira, to London’s Gatwick Airport. As planned, the plane landed at the neighbouring island of Porto Santo to fill up after the tricky take-off from Funchal Airport without a full load of fuel.
Officials, expecting a Gibraltar Airways plane, became suspicious when the Brit-
ish Airways-owned Caledonian Airways airliner being used for the flight showed up and they would not accept the pilot’s aviation industry credit card used to pay for fuel. To save time the pilot asked his 100 passengers to stump up to help pay the £l2OO ($3192) bill. They paid up and the plane took off. The passengers were reimbursed when they landed at Gatwick. “This is a bit unorthodox, but it was done to save time. It is the first time I have heard of such a situation occurring,” a British Airways spokesman said yesterday.
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Press, 12 September 1988, Page 6
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193Pilot passes hat to fuel plane Press, 12 September 1988, Page 6
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