BA pilot kidnapped outside supermarket and tortured in South Africa

A woman asked the pilot to help carry her bags to her vehicle as a distraction.

BA pilot kidnapped outside supermarket and tortured in South Africa
British Airways Airbus A320 airplane
The unnamed pilot is now recovering following the ordeal (Picture: Getty Images)

A British Airways pilot was tortured for hours in a terrifying robbery in South Africa.

He was on a layover in Johannesburg when he was approached by a woman who tricked him into helping her.

She asked him to carry her bags to her car before a group of men bundled him into the vehicle.

They then took him to an unfamiliar part of the city where he was beaten up and made to hand over the cash.

A source told The Sun: ‘He fell for the scam of agreeing to help a woman in need, and before he knew it was bundled in a vehicle and driven away.

‘He then endured hours of torture and physical assaults. It only ended when he was left penniless.’

After being released he was so badly shaken that he could not fly his plane and he has been off work since.

BA warns staff against going to some areas of Johannesburg. The hotel is in Melrose Arch, thought to be one of the safest parts of the city.

Checkers Bluebird supermarket just north of the Melrose Arch complex in Jo'burg in South Africa
The attack happened outside the Checkers Bluebird supermarket just north of the Melrose Arch complex in Johannesburg (Picture: Leon McGowran)

BA sent an alert to staff that said: ‘A crew member was abducted outside Checkers Bluebird supermarket just north of the Melrose Arch complex.’

A BA spokesperson told Metro: ‘We are supporting our colleague and the local authorities with their investigation.’

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