Ethiopian Airlines’ pilots fall asleep at 37000 ft, miss landing
According to the report, Air Traffic Control (ATC) raised an alert when the flight approached the airport but did not start the descent for its landing.
New Delhi: Two pilots flying from Sudan’s Khartoum to Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa missed their landing as they fell asleep. The incident happened on August 15 according to Aviation Herald. The pilots were flying in the Ethiopian Airlines’ ET343 which was working on the Boeing 737’s autopilot system as they were sleeping.
According to the report, Air Traffic Control (ATC) raised an alert when the flight approached the airport but did not start the descent for its landing. ATC tried to contact the pilots several times but they remained unsuccessful. When the plane overflew the runway, the autopilot disconnected and triggered an alarm, which eventually woke up the pilots. After waking, they manoeuvred the flight to land on the runway 25 minutes later.
No one was harmed during the incident as the flight finally landed safely. Even though the flight landed safely, it is a matter of concern. The aircraft remained on the ground for around 2.5 hours before leaving for its next flight.
Data from the aviation surveillance system ADS-B validated the incident and shared an image of the aircraft’s flight path, which shows an infinity-like loop near the Addis Ababa airport.
Alex Macheras, an aviation analyst, also tweeted about the incident saying, “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.” He also pointed out the matter of pilot fatigue which has caused numerous threats to air safety.
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
A similar incident was reported in May when, on a flight from New York to Rome, two pilots fell asleep as the plane travelled 38,000 feet above the ground. The investigation carried out in the case confirmed that both the pilots of ITA Airways were sleeping as their Airbus 330 flew over France.