PILOTS FALL ASLEEP MID AIR

Two pilots fell asleep while on duty and in the air. The Batik Air pilots fell asleep at the same time and it’s believed the pair slept for 28 minutes.

The flight left Kendari in the Southeast Sulawesi province of India for the capital Jakarta on 25 January.

According to a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Committee, “the aircraft was not in the correct flight path” causing navigational errors.

An official investigation will be launched by the country’s transport ministry.

Even though both pilots fell asleep, the flight successfully landed. Not one of the 153 passengers or four flight attendants were injured during the flight and there was no damage to the aircraft.

CNN reports that once the flight reached cruising altitude, the pilot-in-command asked for permission to rest and the second-in-command then “inadvertently fell asleep”, according to the report.

Although the report did not release the names of the pilots, it did say that the second-in-command pilot had one-month-old twins and “had to wake up several times to help his wife take care of the babies”.

Both pilots are Indonesian males, one being 32 years of age and the other 28.

At first, the pilots blamed a “radio communication problem” for the silence during the flight.

Image credit: Sky News