By Libya Herald staff.
Tunis, 18 June 2015:
Afriqiyah Airways has suspended all flights to and from Labraq after a pilot was attacked . . .[restrict]yesterday in a dispute over luggage. Today in what seems a related incident, the rear window of another pilot’s car was smashed in.
During the security check beside the aircraft when passengers were identifying their luggage, one of them got into a heated argument with the baggage handlers. The captain of the flight, who has not been identified, intervened, but as he was walking away he was hit.
Accounts of the incident differ. A source at Afriqiyah said the pilot was struck by a guard who was a relative of the male passenger while other reports have it that the customer hit the pilot.
As a result the pilot refused to take off for Tunis. Then this morning the car used by the copilot was vandalised, with the rear window stoved in. Afriqiyah then cancelled its flight to Amman and announced that all further Labraq flights were suspended.
The company source said that he did not know when they might be resumed. “We are having negotiations” he said, adding that the guard involved had not been arrested. “This was disgusting behaviour and should not be tolerated”. He denied reports however that the pilot had been severely beaten up.
It is unclear how many passengers were due to leave on the Tunis and Amman flights.
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