Southwest Pilot Caught on Hot Mic Cursing Out Bay Area Residents
A Southwest Airlines pilot was recorded on a hot mic ranting and trash talking Bay Area residents. The short clip went viral online after being recorded by Live ATC, which livestreams air traffic control audio transmissions.
The incident happened on March 13 and picked up over the Mineta San Jose International Airport’s air traffic control scanner. The shocking rant was not heard over the PA system on the airplane itself. If you want to hear it for yourself, you can check out the archived recording here (Warning: Explicit language), starting around 21:00.
The pilot, which has not been publicly identified by name by Southwest, can be heard in the recording beginning to complain about San Francisco residents amid directions from air traffic controllers on weather and runway conditions.
He starts off by saying “F— this place, g–damn liberal f—s,” before being interrupted. Then he goes on for a few more second adding, “Eight guns out here somewhere as it is. F—ing weirdos, probably driving around in f—ing Hyundais, f—ing roads and s— that go slow as f—. You don’t have balls unless you’re f—ing rolling coal, man, goddamn it.”
Southwest has confirmed to multiple outlets, including The Hill, that the audio was captured on one of the company’s flights and that the pilot worked for Southwest. The airline also issued a short statement, saying the its “corporate culture is built on a tenet of treating others with concern and dignity and the comments are inconsistent with the professional behavior and overall respect that we require from our employees.”
Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Ian Gregor wrote in a statement that “FAA regulations prohibit airline pilots from talking about subjects that are unrelated to safely conducting their flight while taxiing and while flying below 10,000 feet altitude.”
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He tells the truth. Yes there is more honesty when people think they are speaking in private. It’s unfortunate people have to hide their true feelings when in public. Everything he said is spot on. If you are a bay city resident who isn’t one of those things, don’t get offended. I live in NYC. I don’t get offended when someone criticizes people living in NY. I think 80% of those living in NYC are cancer. People speak about groups as a whole instead of individuals. It’s impossible to know all individuals but it is easy to view as a group. I know pit bulls commit a disproportionate amount of unprovoked violent attacks because of their genetics. I don’t know every pit bull but I know these statistics are accurate. People can talk about genetics of dog breeds but when we talk of genetics of human groups many play dumb and pretend it’s not the same thing. I won’t even mention it. 13/52.
I’m a f-ing liberal (from Texas), and he can say what he wants about political affiliation. That’s a choice, unlike your race. We trash talk conservatives too. But he’s on the job in a professional environment, so probably not the best time for a tirade.
SS: appreciate your post. This is how many Americans feel about the left coast. Cancel culture will not change that. People are just more careful when and where they express their true beliefs.
I live in the bay area. He’s not wrong
If your not happy then you should do something about it, may I suggest Texas (austin) or Nevada (reno) both have high tech companies. I dont understand, its not like you cant change where you live.
Southwest has had problems with stuck mics for years, FAA needs to seriously handle this issue, first time was a oops, multiple times there is a problem with training and corporate culture at southwest. This isnt a sterile cockpit and its dangerous. There are rules in place for specific reasons, if I was a passenger on this flight I would have asked to deplane. I dont know the state of mind of the pilot and I dont trust that he can safely do his job. Some of us might think it was just unprofessional but what if something did happen and he wasnt paying attention and complaining about the bay area.