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.
Esmeralda sent it to her 40,000 followers on Twitter and it was then shared widely on the Internet before coming to the attention of Magnicharters, the company operating the flight.
Miss Zendejas tried to defend the captain, by saying she and Miss Ugalde had only been in the cockpit while the aircraft was on the ground.
But the pilot admitted the photograph had been taken in the air.
Magnicharters, which operates domestic flights out of Mexico City, said the captain’s behaviour had been unacceptable.
A Magnicharters spokesman 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.’
Esmeralda Ugalde
Nelva Esmeralda Ugalde González, 23, better known as Esmeralda Ugalde is a Mexican actress and singer.
Magnicharters
Magnicharters (UJ) is based in Mexico City and operates domestic holiday flights.
It has a fleet of eight 737-200 aircraft with an average age of more than 20 years, all of which are equipped with an all-economy class cabin layout.
