Passenger flies plane to Spain when there was no available pilot

An Easyjet passenger, who is also a pilot, has been hailed a "legend" after he took it upon himself to fly an Easyjet plane to prevent the flight from being cancelled as a result of a pilot shortage.

Michael Bradley, a qualified easyJet pilot, was travelling with his wife and son when he decided to step in and offer his services  as they had been warned that their flight had been delayed for 2 hours and risked being cancelled.

Mr Bradley took his licence and ID along to the airport after receiving warning about the flight delay.

Passengers on board a Manchester Airport flight to Alicante were stunned when Bradley made his way to the cockpit dressed in casual clothes.

To calm the frustrated passengers, Bradley made an announcement through the plane's tannoy and a video of this was shared on Facebook and earned him praises.

He said to the passengers: "My wife who’s on row 15 with my little boy – hopefully he’s asleep by now, I should keep it down or else I’ll get told off – she rolled over and punched me in the back of the head and said ‘our flight’s delayed by two hours because they are minus one captain for the flight.

"So just before we went through security I thought I wonder if this is worth a phone call, I think it is because I’d like to go on holiday.

"I phoned up EasyJet and said ‘Hiya, I’m standing in the terminal doing nothing. I have got my licence with me – deliberately from being punched in the back of the head at 3am – I have got my ID with me and I’d very much like to go on holiday and if you need a favour I’m standing here ready to go."

Mr Bradley said his bosses called him back in less than a minute to give him the go ahead.

He added: "Thirty eight seconds later they phoned me back and said ‘please, please pretty please with a big cherry on top, can you fly the aeroplane to Alicante’?

"So if you’re alright for one of your pilots to look like this today, we’ll go to Alicante."

His announcement was met with cheers from the passengers.

A spokesman for easyJet said the flight’s delay was "due to the knock on effects of the French Air Traffic Control failure on Sunday, which impacted on crew and meant they had to rely on standbys."

He said: "We are grateful to one of our pilots who was travelling on holiday from Manchester to Alicante on 2 September with his family and volunteered to operate the flight.

"This meant customers could get to their destination and shows the commitment and dedication of our crew.

"This is fully in line with regulations as he had his licence and ID with him. Safety is always our highest priority."

The spokesman said the incident was "exceptional" and stressed that Michael was well rested, having previously had four days off, and was legally permitted to fly the aircraft.

Watch below.