- The plane, from the Ethiopian Airlines company, was flying between Khartoum and Addis Ababa.
 |
| File image of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing plane in flight. / Wikipedia |
Two pilots fall asleep mid-flight and miss their destination
The crew of a commercial Ethiopian Airlines flight is suspended pending an investigation after its two pilots fell asleep and missed landing at their destination airport.
According to the specialized media Aviation Herald and collected by the BBC, the incident occurred on August 15 aboard a Boeing 737-800 of the Ethiopian Airlines airline, which was flying between Khartoum (Sudan) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia).
The 154-passenger plane was flying on autopilot at 37,000 feet (11,000 meters) when both pilots fell asleep, and the aircraft continued past the point where it was supposed to begin its descent to land at Addis Ababa International Airport. Bowl.
Read this also: From The Risk Of Nuclear Disaster To Erdogan's Attempt To Sit Zelensky Down: The War In Ukraine Enters An 'Impasse'
Air traffic controllers were also unable to communicate with the crew in time despite making several contact attempts. Alarms went off when the plane overshot the runway and continued to fly en route.
However, Ethiopian Airlines company has assured in a statement that "the flight later landed safely after communication was restored."
After what happened, the airline has reported that the crew of this flight has been removed from future operations, pending a more complete investigation into the event. "Appropriate corrective action will be taken based on the outcome of the investigation," the company said in that note, adding that "safety has always been and will continue to be our first priority."
For aviation analyst Alex Macheras, this situation makes visible an existing problem: "Pilot fatigue is nothing new and continues to represent one of the most important threats to aviation safety at the international level," he pointed out in a tweet.
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
Last April, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association also pointed to the risks associated with pilot fatigue, especially since the sector begins to recover travelers after the stoppage due to the pandemic. "Fatigue, both acute and cumulative, has become Southwest Airlines' number one safety threat," they noted in a letter.
Tags:
World