A captain who had an argument with a co-worker during a flight has been fired, while his counterpart resigned, according to South Korean airline Asiana.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Tuesday, the quarrel took place between the two captains on duty at the cockpit of an Asiana flight heading for Rome in September last year.

The conflict was triggered when one captain refused to hand over control to the other and told the latter’s vice captain to take over. For long distance international flights, two captains normally take charge in shifts, each with a vice captain.

After summoning the corresponding captains and vice captains, the ministry handed down a 45-day work suspension to the two captains for infringing safety and flight regulations. The final decision will be released this month, the ministry said.

The airline company also decided to fire one of the two captains involved. The other has voluntarily resigned.

“It is hard to believe that captains, who are in charge of over 200 passengers’ safety during flight, were involved in a quarrel during flight service,” said an industry insider. 

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)