Actually, the pilots should take turns sleeping. But that didn’t work on a Batik Air passenger flight from Kendari to the Indonesian capital Jakarta. The Airbus A320 with 153 passengers on board flew through the air without a driver for up to half an hour on January 25th, as an investigation report by the responsible aviation authority shows. Luckily, one of the pilots woke up in time, was able to correct the flight course and ultimately land the plane safely.
The nap was noticed because the air traffic controllers in the tower at Jakarta Airport in Indonesia had tried several times in vain to contact the crew. According to the report, the controllers made an initial inquiry twelve minutes after the last radio message, but received no response. The crew was only reachable again 28 minutes after the last contact.
At this point, the flight captain, who had retired to sleep after consultation with his colleague, woke up again and found his representative sleeping. He also noticed that the plane had left the correct flight path. He woke up his colleague, corrected the course and the plane landed in Jakarta as planned.
The investigation report also explains why the co-pilot, who dozed off at the wheel, was so tired. The 28-year-old had just become the father of twins. The two one-month-old babies had woken him up several times during the night before he started work. In addition, the man had just moved with his family and had moved things from the old house to the new house the day before the flight.
For the night flight to Jakarta, the young father had to get up around midnight and drive to the airport. There, an airline nurse examined him and found him fit to fly. As a result of the incident, the airline must now revise its security procedures.
Source: Investigation report via Aerotelegraph
