He was going to wing it.
A British Airways pilot snorted coke off a topless woman’s chest while partying hard in South Africa before he attempted to groggily fly a jam-packed flight to London, according to a report.
Mike Beaton, a married father of one, had a night off for “downtime” in Johannesburg before he was scheduled to co-pilot a return flight to London four weeks ago.
He spent the night indulging in booze, drugs and women, he boasted in text messages he sent to a flight attendant pal, The Sun reported.
“I’ve been a very naughty boy,” he told her.
When he tried to fly the following day, the crew member reported the pilot’s alarming night to superiors, who canceled the 12-hour flight to Heathrow Airport, costing British Airways roughly $120,000, according to the outlet.
Beaton was suspended and flown home as a passenger the following day. He was drug-tested at the airport — which he failed — and was subsequently fired.
In his text messages to the flight attendant, Beaton said he had met two local men, a Welsh woman on vacation and a “young Spanish bird” at a Johannesburg nightclub. After hours of drinking, the group staggered to a hotel bar for a nightcap before they ended up at one of the local men’s apartments.
“Welsh has decided that I should actually be her boyfriend — Spanish has hooked up with one of the two local lads and is having her t–s sucked on their sofa,” he said.
The “girls” were dancing topless when the cocaine arrived, Beaton bragged.
“I’ve lost my shirt somewhere and one of the local lads produces a plate with a few lines of coke,” he wrote. “So then there’s a debate about whose chest is the best to do a bump off.”
“That’s the story of how I ended up snorting coke off a girl’s t–s in Joburg,” he gleefully gloated.
“Stayed the night with Welsh, sh– her for ages (I guess the coke played a part),” he continued, “and then was so f–ked I couldn’t even lift my head until gone 2.”
A source with British Airways told The Sun the incident has left the airline in shock.
“Of all the bad behavior that goes on downroute between flights, this incident is hard to believe,” the source said. “A First Officer is trained rigorously and knows the law inside out. Their remit is protecting the safety of passengers.
“The idea of sending details of his drink and drugs session to a stewardess between flights is extraordinarily dumb,” they added.
When he was tested for drugs at Heathrow, “The alcohol would no longer have been found in his system, but the Class A drug was,” the source said. “He will never fly again.”
British Airways sources told The Sun passengers on the flight were not a risk after Beaton’s drug binge. The airline confirmed the pilot no longer works for them.
“An airline must immediately inform us if a UK pilot has misused drink or drugs boarding, or being on board, an aircraft,” the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, told the outlet in a statement.
“In these cases, we would immediately suspend the pilot’s medical which means they cannot fly,” the agency continued. “In most cases, the pilot would have an assessment with an expert medical team and if they wished to return to flying then a comprehensive rehabilitation program would be put in place.”