Mexican pilot is sacked after he let a singer sit in cockpit and FLY the plane

A Mexican pilot has been sacked after letting a singer into the cockpit and allowing her to fly the plane.

Esmeralda Ugalde, 23, and her actress friend Samadhi Zendejas, 19, were let into the cabin by the captain, with pictures later emerging of the singer sat at the controls.

The pilot, who has not been named, was sacked after the pictures, showing Miss Ugalde wearing his hat, went viral on Twitter.

The pictures were posted online to Miss Ugalde's 40,000 followers but have since been deleted. 

The Magnicharters pilot, who was flying between Cancun and the capital Mexico City, was identified by the airline and fired.

Miss Zendejas tried to defend the captain by saying they had only entered the cabin when the plane was on the ground, but by then the pilot had admitted that he let the young women in during the flight.

Company spokesman Jorge Badia confirmed that the captain who allowed Miss Ugalde, sister of Latin Grammy Award winner Ana Barbara, and Miss Zendejas to enter the cockpit had been sacked.

He said: 'We cannot allow a pilot to make this kind of mistake, it is just not allowed. Even if the autopilot was working it is not allowed to do something like this. We cannot even allow people to enter the cabin, even if they are actors or actresses.

'We are a serious company and we are deeply saddened about the fact that one of our staff behaved in this way. Flight law dictates visitors are not allowed to enter the cabin during the flight.'

Strict rules imposed following the September 11 terrorist attacks mean pilots are not allowed to let any passengers into the cockpit for any reason, Mr Badia added.

Culled