Two pilots from the airline Batik Air fell asleep on a domestic flight in Indonesia at the end of January. However, they landed the plane without any problems.
Indonesia’s aviation safety agency has called on airlines to strengthen cockpit controls and ensure onboard crew are adequately rested for each flight.
According to a report by the National Committee for Transport Safety (KNKT), the pilot and copilot of the Airbus A320 fell asleep almost simultaneously on a January 25 flight from Sulawesi to the capital, Jakarta. AFP became aware of the report on Friday, and it was posted on the committee’s website at the end of February.
The report explains that one of the pilots did not get enough sleep the night before the flight. This led to navigation errors, but the 153 passengers and four flight attendants emerged unscathed from the two-and-a-half-hour flight.
About half an hour after the plane took off, the captain asked his copilot if he could rest. According to the report, the co-pilot took control of the aircraft but fell asleep. Twenty-eight minutes later, the pilot woke up to find his copilot asleep, and the plane was off course. He immediately woke up his colleague, answered Jakarta’s calls and corrected the flight’s trajectory. The plane was then able to land without accident.