Alitalia pilot refused to fly from Beirut to Rome because he was tired - passengers stuck for 16 hours at Beirut

THe pilot of Alitalia Flight AZ827 refused to fly from Beirut to Rome because he was tired and, as a result, the passengers were stuck for 16 hours at Beirut. The passengers had already boarded the plane when the pilot made the decision. The passengers were later forced to disembark.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 16 July 2016.

Joseph Calleja, a Maltese Opera singer, was on board the flight and he vented his anger to more than 200,000 fans on his Facebook page, calling the treatment of customers 'deplorable'. The Flight AZ827 was scheduled to take off from Beirut at 4:25am local time in Lebanon and the journey to Rome would have taken three hours. But, the pilot took the decision not to fly because he was too tired.
Head of Flight Safety at the British Airline Pilots’ Association hs indicated that 'Pilot fatigue is a problem across the aviation industry and BALPA members have told us they believe it is one of the biggest single threats to flight safety.' No airline would allow a tired pilot to take off and put the lives of passengers at risk. Hence, it is important to ensure the pilot is not denied his rest period.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


Some more interesting links -
San Fermin bull-running festival kicks off in Pamplona

Three new crew members from US, Russia and Japan on their way to the International Space Station

2016 Rio Olympics - Rio de Janeiro gets ready to welcome 5,00,000 tourists


Didi not happy seeing urchins in Howrah Station (satire)

Moody discusses women’s fashion with Baba Someday (satire)

Lord Shiva and the mystery of haunted houses (satire)


Two suspected ISIS jihadists arrested in Ataturk Airport

There were more than 2000 gun related violence in Chicago during 2016

Four killed and nine police officers injured in terror attack in Bangladesh during Eid prayer


Salman Khan starrer Sultan set to enter the Rs 100-crore club by Day-3

A R Rahman off on his UK Intimate Tour - will perform in London on September 22

Katy Perry creates microblogging history with over 90-million followers on Twitter