Aviation
Commercial /
Europe
Pandemic of ignorance
Fake news try to link British Airways pilot deaths to Covid-19 vaccination
Ramapasha-Laksono/Unsplash
Gabriela Ramos
7/3/2021
Three British Airways pilots who were vaccinated against Covid-19 died recently, sparking allegations that the deaths were related to the immunization agent and that the airline was in "crisis negotiations" with the British government. These allegations turn out to be false, a company official and spokesman for the British medicines regulator told Reuters.
The fake news was shared on social media through an audio of a man who does not identify himself, but claims that he spoke with a "friend who is a British Airways pilot" and that "things are getting crazy" after the death of three others pilots.
In the audio, the man also says: “they had the third BA pilot dying in the last seven days, right? Third pilot killed last week. The first two guys were in their forties and fifties; this guy, in his early thirties, perfectly fit, with no underlying conditions. He gets his second jab and dies in a few days, exactly the same as the first two. Because of this, BA is now in crisis talks with the government over the possibility of allowing vaccinated pilots to fly. The problem with that, of course, is that about 80%, according to my friend at BA, 80-85%, was injected.”
He also says that only 10% of pilots will be able to fly and that this is a “serious problem”.
Another Twitter user shared a photo of four alleged condolence books alongside framed photos of four men in a British Airways-themed lounge, claiming to believe that "it was actually four young pilots who died from Maxine."
The allegations were presented by Reuters to British Airways, which denied that any such negotiations were taking place with the British government and said the allegations were false and unfounded. However, the spokesman clarified that the condolence books are indeed authentic, due to the recent death of four of the company's pilots, but he also claims that none of the deaths were caused by the vaccine.
The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said in a statement to Reuters that it also denies any such deals with British Airways.
Dr. Sarah Branch, director of drug surveillance and risk management for the MHRA said: “We were not informed of the deaths of BA pilots after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine and we have had no discussions with BA or other airlines about the prevention of pilots to fly after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. There are currently no restrictions on aviation or other industries and post-vaccination activities. Our advice remains that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks for most people. It is still vitally important that people report for the vaccination and the second dose when invited to do so. We ask anyone who suspects they have experienced a side effect related to their COVID-19 vaccine to report it to the Coronavirus Yellow Card website.”?
In other words, the allegations posted on social media are false. British Airways is not in “crisis negotiations” with the government, nor with the MHRA. The recent death of the four pilots has nothing to do with vaccination.
Isaac Struna/Unsplash
Hyperlinks:
Gabriela Ramos
Gabriela is the latest addition to the editorial team of our website, having provided us with her solid background in editing, publishing and photography, and her interest and training in aviation history and historiography. His good taste and common sense and great cleverness and sagacity in the selection of themes and materials greatly enriched our vocabulary and narrative style. Gabriela brought unusual predicates and came to stay, helping to point the way of success of our portal.
   
|
|