A pilot for British Airways was reportedly tortured after he was kidnapped while shopping during a stopover between flights in South Africa.
The First Officer was approached by a woman in a supermarket car park who asked him to help carry her bags to her car.
But when they reached the vehicle, a group of men pushed him inside.
The unnamed pilot was driven to a remote area of Johannesburg where he was “badly roughed up”.
He was unfit to fly the plane back to London from Johannesburg, and a replacement had to be drafted in.
The airline has said it is “supporting” a colleague and local authorities with their investigation, but offered no further details.