'Gulf Air pilots were very strict and operated strictly by the book. Observing this a friend of mine decided to have a bit of fun at their expense.'

'Gulf Air pilots were very strict and operated strictly by the book. Observing this a friend of mine decided to have a bit of fun at their expense.'

Mike Mahon recounts a trick a fellow pilot played in Bahrain.

Mike Mahon

Trinity College Dublin

2001

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Mike Mahon

Work and Employment

Life Story

Bahrain

2000s

Gulf Air had a fleet of Boeing 737's for short haul routes and for long haul Tristars. I had flown 737's before and was a bit taken aback when I first saw the Gulf Air Boeing 737 flight manual, for the first page was a disclaimer from Boeing for the way they operated the aircraft. The flying was easy as 99% of the time the weather was perfect. Gulf Air pilots were very strict and operated strictly by the book. Observing this a friend of mine decided to have a bit of fun at their expense. He got a captain's uniform cap and installed on it an amber rotating beacon powered by battery. At the same time he put a notice in the aircraft tech log to the effect that as a captain had been struck by a catering truck on the ramp at Karachi airport in future all Captains doing a walk around were instructed to don this cap and switch on the flashing beacon. Many complied much to the amusement of ground crew and passengers alike. The hoax only came to light when someone wrote in the snag list that the battery in the captains flashing beacon needed replacing. Operations went ballistic, but the culprit was never found.

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)