By John Ikani
Ethiopian Airlines pilots fell asleep while enroute from Khartoum in Sudan to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, missing an airport runway.
The Boeing 737, with a 154-seat capacity, normally takes less than two hours on its route between the neighbouring countries.
The pilots had been due to begin their descent to Addis Ababa Bole Airport – but were still cruising at 37,000ft.
Air traffic control were apparently unable to reach the crew despite making several attempts at contact.
However, an alarm – which was triggered when the plane overshot the runway and continued along the route – woke the pilots and they managed to land the plane safely.
Aviation expert Alex Macheras tweeted on the incident and wrote, “Deeply concerning incident at Africa’s largest airline – Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 ET343 was still at cruising altitude of 37,000 ft by the time it reached destination Addis Ababa. Why hadn’t it started to descend for landing? Both pilots were asleep.”
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
He also went on to talk about pilot fatigue and wrote, “Pilot fatigue is nothing new, and continues to pose one of the most significant threats to air safety- internationally. Just last week, pilots publicly criticised UK leisure airline Jet2 for “refusing to recognise concerns about pilot fatigue.”
Pilot fatigue is nothing new, and continues to pose one of the most significant threats to air safety – internationally.
Just last week, pilots publicly criticised UK leisure airline Jet2 for “refusing to recognise concerns about pilot fatigue” https://t.co/9nXP1QVnse
— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) August 18, 2022
Back in May, Italian newspaper Repubblica reported that an ITA pilot had been fired after “falling asleep” during a flight between New York and Rome.
Some 250 passengers were on board the plane at the time.
The co-pilot was said to be taking an “authorized rest” at the time, leading to the Airbus A330 losing communication with air traffic control for ten minutes, according to the report.
Air traffic controllers reportedly lost contact with the plane for around 10 minutes – and feared there had been a terrorist incident onboard.
But as officials prepared to scramble fighter jets, the pilots eventually responded to air traffic control.
The captain was fired after the plane touched down in Rome.
In a statement, ITA airways said he had claimed radios stopped working – but added that his behaviour was not “consistent” with the rules dictated by the company.
