Two Ethiopian Airlines pilots fell asleep while flying from Khartoum, Sudan, to Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, and missed their landing.
According to Aviation Herald, the incident occurred on Monday, and Air Traffic Control (ATC) issued an alert when flight ET343 approached the airport but did not begin its descent.
The Boeing 737’s autopilot system kept the plane cruising at 37,000 feet while the pilots slept, according to the outlet.
It went on to say that the plane stayed on the ground for about 2.5 hours before taking off for its next flight.
The ATC attempted to contact the pilots several times but was unsuccessful. The autopilot was turned off when the plane flew over the runway where it was supposed to land. According to Aviation Herald, this triggered an alarm, which woke up the pilots.
They then maneuvered the aircraft to land on the runway 25 minutes later, according to the outlet.
Fortunately, no one was hurt, and the plane safely landed.
Data from the ADS-B aviation surveillance system confirmed that the incident occurred and that the aircraft flew over the runway. It has released a photo of the aircraft’s flight path, which depicts an infinity-like loop near Addis Abeba’s airport.
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A similar incident occurred in May when two pilots fell asleep while flying from New York to Rome at 38,000 feet above ground.
Comments The aviation regulator conducted an investigation, which confirmed that both ITA Airways pilots were sleeping as their Airbus 330 flew over France.
Alex Macheras, an aviation analyst, also tweeted about the incident, calling it “deeply concerning.” He also blamed it on pilot fatigue.
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