Pilots Fall Asleep Flying High At Sky, Wakes Up To Land Plane
New Delhi, Aug 19: Reportedly, while a flight flying from Sudan’s Khartoum to Ethiopia capital Addis Ababa, two pilots fell asleep. The Boeing 737-800 ET-343 was flying at 37,000 feet when the pilots fell asleep, says a report of Aviation Herald.
On autopilot mode the aircraft was continuing in accordance with the route set up by the Flight Management Computer (FMC) and was expected to land in the runway designated for it.
However, the air traffic controllers discovered that the flight did not land in the designated runway and calls went unanswered. The pilots woke up when the disconnect wailer rang loudly after being disconnected from the autopilot.
The crew then manoeuvred the aircraft for a safe landing on runway 25 minutes after they overflew the runway.
Deeply concerning incident at Africa’s largest airline — Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 #ET343 was still at cruising altitude of 37,000ft by the time it reached destination Addis Ababa
Why hadn’t it started to descend for landing? Both pilots were asleep. https://t.co/cPPMsVHIJD pic.twitter.com/RpnxsdtRBf
— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) August 18, 2022
Aviation analyst Alex Macheras in a tweet said that the development was concerning and more so because the aircraft overflew the runway at 37,000 feet.
Air traffic controllers tried to contact the pilots numerous times without success
After overflying the runway (still at cruising altitude), the autopilot disconnected – and this chime alert woke the pilots up — who then initiated a descent and eventually made a safe landing.
— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) August 18, 2022
Macheras then went on to point out that pilot fatigue is an old problem and is a significant problem threatening air safety internationally. “Pilot fatigue is nothing new, and continues to pose one of the most significant threats to air safety – internationally,” Macheras said.
A similar incident was reported earlier in May when two pilots fell asleep while flying a plane from New York to Rome.
Pilot associations have slammed the aviation industry’s inability to understand pilot fatigue and likened it to ‘handing car keys to a drunk driver’.
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