the Daily Mail

Terrified passengers claim their plane had to dodge another jet by suddenly climbing 10,000ft because their pilot was “showing off” to a boy in the cockpit. The pilot of the flight to Paris suddenly pitched left at 33,000ft and the crew allegedly announced the Airbus A320, with 143 passengers, had got “too close” to another plane. Taking passengers into the cockpit is contrary to aviation rules brought in after the September 11 terror attacks. Air France has now launched an investigation after passengers at the front of the aircraft told how they saw one of the cabin crew escort a French boy, aged about 13, into the cockpit.

Shaun Robinson, 40, from Rossendale, said the jet “rocked and rolled” like in a fairground ride and terrified passengers said prayers aloud while children cried. He claimed: “The pilot was clearly showing off to this young boy,” said Mr Robinson, who was on a business trip. Passengers say they could see the pilot making movement to the left and the aircraft banked suddenly to the left. The aircraft pitched back to the right and passengers watched as the boy returned to his seat. Then, passengers say they heard alarm noises coming from the cockpit, whose door had been shut, and it is claimed the aircraft suddenly climbed 10,000ft.

Mr Robinson said: “Suddenly the pilot made a sharp turn to the left, without warning, and then back again, possibly showing the young French boy how he flew his Airbus A320 plane. Gasps could be heard throughout the rest of the cabin.

“Moments later, the pilot threw his plane into a steep climb. We could hear alarms sounding. The two crew members sitting in front of me – one male, one female – had terror written across their faces and were gripping their chairs.

“After climbing rapidly by another 10,000ft the pilot told us he was far too close to the plane in front and air traffic control urgently asked him to climb, climb.”

To borrow a line from Donald Trump….”Your Fired”.