Total eclipse of the eardrums: Bonnie's singing sparks complaints

When an Air France pilot discovered Bonnie Tyler was on board his retirement flight he asked her to sing her biggest hit. Unfortunately Belgian passengers were not amused...

So she was not too surprised when a member of the Air France cabin crew gently woke her as she flew home First Class from a business trip to Mauritius.

The co-pilot was retiring. This was his last ever flight. Would Bonnie make the occasion extra special by singing to him?

Ever the trouper, Ms Tyler obliged, posing for pictures with the delighted crew, before singing a few bars in her trademark husky voice.

Yet as she sat down, leaving her overjoyed audience to their celebrations, one section of the plane was distinctly unimpressed by the frivolity.

A group of passengers - believed to be Belgians - lodged an extraordinary complaint with the airline, Air France, claiming they were traumatised by the experience.

The group said that the celebrations and Bonnie's singing were so raucous that they feared the safety of the flight might have been put at risk. Air France is believed to strenuously deny the claim.

The 55-year-old Welsh singer - born Gaynor Hopkins - last night told The Mail on Sunday: "I was asleep in First Class. The stewardess came and said the co-pilot was retiring. And they asked me would I sing to him. They were having a bit of a party.

"The stewardess was a frustrated singer. She had a great voice and really wanted to make records.

"And the co-pilot was a lovely guy. I remember he had badges all over his uniform."

The singer - whose other hits include Holding Out For A Hero, It's A Heartache and Lost In France - was bemused when told that some passengers had complained.

Her manager Roger Bell confirmed Ms Tyler had sung. "She did a video in Mauritius and she sang to the co-pilot," he said.

"When they were coming back, it was the co-pilot's last flight and he heard she was on the aeroplane. The cabin crew asked if it would be all right, so she went up to say hello to him and sang Total Eclipse."

Sources connected with Air France say that the complaint over the flight escalated into a legal dispute and is still unresolved - even though the incident occurred two years ago.

An Air France insider explained: "The claim against Air France, which it completely rejects, is that the celebrations got more and more unruly and came to a climax when Bonnie sang.

"Air France is saying that any suggestion there was anything more than a few slaps on the back for the co-pilot is nonsense, and it completely rejects the claims that the passengers were at any sort of risk."

An Air France spokeswoman said: "We are all big fans of Bonnie Tyler. She sings very good songs and is very well preserved.

"It is a good thing that she enjoyed our services and if she entertained other passengers, then so much the better."

The spokeswoman said she was not aware of any specific complaints about what happened on the flight. "Our legal department will be making checks," she said.