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HOUSTON — A Houston-based airline pilot has been suspended after his cockpit microphone became stuck, allowing an obscenity-laced rant to be broadcast over hundreds of miles, Local 2 Investigates reported Tuesday. Air traffic controllers in Houston first alerted Federal Aviation Administration supervisors on March 25, 2011, around 1:30 p.m. and those supervisors forwarded a tape of the episode to Southwest Airlines to take action against the pilot.the Southwest Airlines pilot, who was not identified by the FAA or the airline, could be heard talking to his co-pilot in the cockpit, expressing frustration over the airline hiring so many flight attendants that he found to be unsuitable for dating.”A continuous stream of gays and grannies and grandes,” the pilot said over the Houston Center air traffic control frequency, which covers hundreds of miles over Texas.Pilots within certain altitude guidelines over that entire geographic area were unable to communicate with Houston Center air traffic controllers for the entire four-minute duration of his conversation since his headset microphone was stuck.”Eleven (expletive) over-the-top (expletive) ass (expletive) homosexuals and a granny,” the pilot said as he complained to his co-pilot about the lack of flight attendants who caught his interest.his co-pilot then responded inside the cockpit about one of those groups, but his response could not be heard on the recording. it is unclear whether the co-pilot refers to people who are gay, or people who are older, or people who are overweight, and the pilot is then heard responding, “Well I don’t give a (expletive). I hate 100 percent of their (expletive).”The pilot used a slur against gay flight attendants, saying he had gone to a bar with a group of flight attendants. He described that trip to the bar by saying, “Once with the granny and the (derogatory term) and I wish I hadn’t gone.”In a statement issued to Local 2 Investigates about the ordeal, the FAA wrote the following.”On March 25, 2011, about two-and-a-half minutes of conversation that included offensive language and disparaging characterizations of certain groups and individuals was transmitted on an FAA air traffic control frequency as the result of a stuck microphone in an aircraft cockpit. An air-traffic controller in the Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center alerted all of the airplanes on the frequency to check for a stuck microphone and indicated that the conversation being broadcast was inappropriate over the air. the FAA determined that the broadcast likely came from a Southwest Airlines flight and sent an audio recording of the conversation to the airline for further action. the incident occurred during a phase of flight in which personal conversations are permitted in the cockpit. nevertheless, the FAA expects a higher level of professionalism from flight crews, regardless of the circumstances.”Cece Cox, the CEO of Resource Center Dallas, which advocates for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues in the city where Southwest Airlines is based, said, “This individual has made statements that are anti-woman, anti-age, and anti-gay in a way that can’t be disputed and they’re hateful and they’re damaging to the employees of Southwest Airlines as well as consumers of Southwest Airlines.”She also said, “I hope it’s an isolated incident. I hope they look and see what’s happening in their culture because clearly this incident shows that there’s something happening in this culture that allowed this person to make those kind of remarks and exhibit this kind of hostility, discrimination, and hate,” she said, adding that means people who were targeted in this rant may not feel safe flying with the airline.Southwest Airlines responded by saying the pilot was suspended without pay, but the airline would not say how long that suspension lasted.Airline spokesperson Brandy King declined to answer questions about the punishment, saying the airline considers it a “family matter.”In an email, King wrote, “We are committed and dedicated to maintaining the highest standard of ethics in the industry; in fact we