SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — A pilot flying out of San Jose International Airport was caught on a hot mic spewing an expletive-laced rant about California liberals and Hyundai drivers over air traffic control radio, according to officials.
“F**k this place, god***n liberal f**ks,” the pilot is heard saying on March 12. “Eight guns out here somewhere as it is. F**king weirdos, probably driving around in f**king Hyundais, f**king roads and s**t that go slow as f**k. You don’t have balls unless you’re f**king rolling coal, man. God****it.”
A call for Southwest Airlines Flight 531 can also be heard on the frequency around the same time of the rant.
The plane departed San Jose for Seattle at 6:50 p.m.
Southwest has confirmed that this was one of its employees.
The airline released the following statement to NewsNation affiliate KRON:
“Our 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,” the airline said in a statement. “This situation was an isolated incident involving a single employee and not representative of the nearly 60,000 hardworking, respectful people of Southwest Airlines. We do not publicly discuss employee matters, but we are fully addressing the situation internally.”
The FAA also commented on the incident, saying it remains under investigation:
“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. The FAA is investigating communications that an airline pilot made while taxiing at Mineta San Jose International Airport last week. The FAA also reported the incident to the airline.