Pilots and cabin crew come to blows

I had always thought of pilots and flight attendants as particularly level-headed people. They seem to be able to keep calm even in difficult situations. That’s why I was surprised to see this article on the BBC News website the other day. I love flying but I’m not sure I would have wanted to be on that flight.

There were some interesting words and phrases in the article, too. The first is in the first paragraph where it is mentioned that the pilot and cabin crew ‘came to blows‘ meaning that they actually had a physical fight rather than just a verbal argument.  It’s also mentioned that the flight was ‘bound‘ for India meaning that India was its target destination.

There were loads of interesting expressions in the following paragraph:

The scuffle is said to have begun as an argument in the plane’s cockpit over claims of sexual harassment but spilled into the galley, startling passengers.

A ‘scuffle‘ is a word we can use to talk about a small fight and to ‘spill into‘ means from move from one place to another. There are to more interesting words here describing parts of a plane:

• cockpit – where the pilots and sometimes a navigator sit
• galley – where the food is prepared

Here are a few more ‘plane’ words that were not in the article:

• passenger cabin – the place where the passengers it
• aisle – the central passage between the seats
• first class – expensive seats
• business class – not quite so expensive seats
• economy class – cheap seats (where I sit!)

In the next paragraph the phrase ‘to throw a punch‘ is used. This just means to swing your arm and try to punch someone.

Slightly later on in the article, it is mentioned that one of the members of the cabin crew ‘filed a complaint‘. This just means that she officially submitted a complaint.

The last word I would like to look at is ‘grounded‘. In the case of this article, it means not allowed to fly but we can also use it to talk about not allowing a child to go out with his or her friends as a punishment for doing something naughty.

Today’s image is by Pablo Barrios.