Airline pilot fired for buzzing Washington airfield

A commercial jet is a very big craft, consuming a large amount of fuel per minute. At the same time, pilots have a sense of being all-powerful, and especially when they are not carrying passengers, are not averse to being adventurous. Well, a pilot had to pay for his sense of adventure when he did an unsolicited fly-by at a US airfield (a fly-by is when a pilot takes the plane very close over the runway without landing). The Chairman of the airline was on the plane at this time:

Cathay spokeswoman Carolyn Leung said the pilot was dismissed last week because he did not seek or obtain approval for the fly-by, which has been done several times before at air shows with the airline's permission.
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper reported Sunday that the airline's chairman, Christopher Pratt, was on the plane when the pilot, Capt. Ian Wilkinson, swooped back over the Boeing plant shortly after taking off.