Two pilots of a Boeing 737-800 of Ethiopian Airlines they fell asleep and forgot to land the plane when they arrived at their destination. In accordance with Aviation Herald, the incident occurred on August 15 during flight ET-343 from Sudan to Ethiopia. The aircraft, which was en route to the Addis Ababa airport, did not land and remained hovering over the runway at an altitude of 37,000 feet.
The control tower tried to contact the crew multiple times, but to no avail. After fly for several minutes on runway 25L, the autopilot disengaged and the warning sound woke up the pilots. Subsequently, the captain carried out the necessary maneuvers to land safely at the airport.
The pilots’ nap caused the plane to land 25 minutes later than planned. After knowing the facts, the airline issued a statement announcing that it would initiate an investigation.
The crew in question has been withdrawn from the operation pending further investigation. Appropriate corrective action will be taken based on the outcome of the investigation. Safety has always been and will continue to be our first priority.
The Ethiopian Airlines incident is not the only one, as ITA Airlines reported a similar case in April this year. On a flight from New York to Rome, both pilots fell asleep while flying over France. Although the co-pilot had authorized rest, the pilot had to be awake in the cockpit, but did not respond to the call from the control tower for 10 minutes.
Airline staff and authorities feared a worse incident, so they thought of sending fighter jets to intercept the aircraft. After a few minutes of waiting, communication was restored with the plane. The captain tried to hide the siesta by ensuring that the communication systems stopped working. However, a subsequent investigation determined that there was no fault in the instruments and the pilot was fired for trying to hide his mistake.
Do pilots sleep during the flight?
Pilots, like passengers, sleep during flights. The captain and the co-pilot have two alternatives: controlled rest or use a bunk bed. The first is done in the cockpit, where the pilot takes a nap of a maximum of 20 minutes in his seat. As its name indicates, the rest must be controlled, since both pilots must agree that one sleeps while the other is in charge of the controls.
There are certain guidelines to follow in this modality. The pilot is allowed up to 45 minutes of rest in his seat. When taking a nap, the pilot should recline and move the seat away from the controls. Once he wakes up he should wait a few minutes to regain all his senses, unless there is an emergency.
Pilots also have a designated space on the plane where they can sleep in bunks. This applies to long flights of more than 7 hours, where the crew is larger. The captain and first officer will be able to rest after takeoff, while the other two pilots take charge of the cabin. Rest can be done in dedicated beds or first class seats and applies to all crew members.
Both controlled rest and the use of bunk beds must always be divided so as not to leave the plane to its fate. Unfortunately, the fatigue caused by the long hours of work caused both pilots to fall asleep. Cases such as that of ITA Airlines or Ethiopian Airlines are becoming more frequent and aviation authorities are concerned.
Fatigue is a threat to aviation safety
A survey conducted a few years ago by the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) found that more than half of the 500 commercial pilots admitted that they fell asleep during the flight. One in three revealed that upon waking up, he found that his co-pilot was also asleep.
Alex Macheras, an aviation analyst, blamed the Ethiopian incident on an acquaintance. “Pilot fatigue is nothing new and continues to represent one of the most significant threats to aviation safety, internationally,” said on Twitter. Some low-cost airlines refuse to acknowledge their pilots’ concerns about stress and fatigue due to shift allocation.
József Varadi, director of Wizz Air, asked its pilots to stop complaining that they are tired. “We can’t run this business when one in five people on a base calls in sick because he’s fatigued,” she said in a leaked internal message to independent. “We’re all fatigued. But sometimes you need to go the extra mile,” she said.
Varadi, like others airline executives, put their income before the safety of the crew and their passengers.
The damage is enormous when we cancel a flight. It’s huge. It’s the damage to the brand’s reputation and it’s the other financial damage, the transactional damage, because we have to pay compensation for that.
Aviation authorities and union leaders are constantly negotiating with airlines to solve the problem of fatigue. In some cases, like the British Jet2, executives insist it’s not a cause for concern and they refuse to guarantee basic security conditions to their personnel.