Two pilots of Ethiopian Airlines fell asleep while flying a flight from Sudan’s Khartoum to Ethiopia capital Addis Ababa and missed their landing. The Boeing 737-800 ET-343 was flying at 37,000 feet on autopilot system when the pilots fell asleep.
The incident took place on Monday, according to Aviation Herald, which added that the Air Traffic Control (ATC) raised an alert when flight ET343 approached the airport but did not start the descent. The aircraft was on autopilot and 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 also were not answering the calls made to them. The pilots woke up when the disconnect wailer rang loudly after being disconnected from the autopilot.
The crew then maneuvered the aircraft for a safe landing on runway 25 minutes after they overflew the runway at 37,000 feet. Fortunately, no one was harmed and the plane landed safely. The aircraft remained on the ground and took off 2.5 hours later for the next flight. Data from aviation surveillance system ADS-B confirmed that the incident took place and the aircraft flew over the runway. It has posted an image of the aircraft’s flight path, which shows an infinity-like loop near the Addis Ababa airport.
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
Pilot fatigue is nothing new, and continues to pose one of the most significant threats to air safety – internationally.
Just last week, pilots publicly criticised UK leisure airline Jet2 for “refusing to recognise concerns about pilot fatigue” https://t.co/9nXP1QVnse
— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) August 18, 2022
A similar incident was reported earlier in May when two pilots fell asleep while flying a plane from New York to Rome. An investigation was carried out by the aviation regulator, which confirmed that both the pilots of ITA Airways were sleeping as their Airbus 330 flew over France. Pilot associations have slammed the aviation industry’s inability to understand pilot fatigue and likened it to ‘handing car keys to a drunk driver’. The CEOs and the management of Wizz Air and Jet2, two budget flyers, were criticised after they asked pilots to go the extra mile when respective associations raised issues related to pilot fatigue.
Post Your Comments