Resigns From Caribbean Charter Service

What do you do when you're a pilot in command of an overwater charter flight and you're caught napping? On videotape?

Punt.

Chris Ballard says he was a passenger aboard a chartered Walker's International flight from Walker's Cay in the Bahamas to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport (FL). There were 15 passengers on board - most of them tourists.

And what do most tourists carry? Right. Cameras.

At least two of those cameras were pointed at the pilot as he could be seen through the cabin door, apparently napping as the co-pilot flew the aircraft. At some point, as Ballard shot video and a female passenger started taking still pictures of the serenely unaware pilot, the co-pilot caught a glimpse of the activity in the rear of the plane.

"He didn't wake him up, so I wasn't going to get up and go into their area and wake him up myself," Ballard told CNN.

Walker's International General Manager Bill Jones said the co-pilot "reports that at no time was he aware that the other pilot was asleep." Then again, when the pilot himself went to the videotape, he decided the resulting publicity (CNN, MSNBC, Fox) "made a difficult situation." So, said Jones, the pilot, who'd been with the company for about a year, decided to quit. "When I see the video it looks very bad."

Jones says the pilot hasn't hired a lawyer. But that might not be a bad idea. The FAA tends to frown on flight-crew naptime while the crewmember in question is pilot in command. The unnamed pilot could face FAA sanctions ranging from a warning letter to a suspension or even revocation of his flight certificate.

The FAA is playing it cool for now, even after the Ballard tape showed up on television screens around the world. Spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said, "I would not assume the pilot is guilty based on news reports. We have to do our own thorough investigation." For the record, Bergen said, under FAA regulations, "when two pilots are necessary for a flight, then they are both required to remain awake, alert and performing their flight related duties."

FMI: www.faa.gov