Plane veered off flight path after both pilots fell asleep, Indonesian authorities say

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Plane veered off flight path after both pilots fell asleep, Indonesian authorities say | CNN
cnn.com

Indonesia’s transport ministry will launch an investigation after two Batik Air pilots fell asleep during a recent flight, according to state news agency Antara, citing the ministry’s civil aviation director-general M Kristi Endah Murni.

According to a preliminary report released Saturday by the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), both the pilot and co-pilot fell asleep simultaneously for 28 minutes during a flight from Kendari in Southeast Sulawesi province to the capital Jakarta on January 25, causing navigational errors as “the aircraft was not in the correct flight path.”

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Definitely overworked pilots.

The reason given in the article the co-pilot accidentally fell asleep is because he has “one-month-old twins.”

But they both needed to sleep. The flight is just 2h 40min (I’ve done this before) so it’s likely they both needed to rest a bit. I know a number of pilots in US and European airlines, and they’ve always maintained that these commuter runs are a grind.

A factual, "You snooze, you lose". I suspect they lost (or will lose) their jobs.

Good to note, "None on board - including 153 passengers and four flight attendants - were injured during the flight, and there was no damage to the aircraft."

Well, the big question here is whether the captain and FO had a rough night at the same time, or if the airline is fucking with mandatory rest regulations. I know where my bet would be.

If it gets found that they didn't get the required time to sleep, it won't be them losing jobs, but one or a few levels up in corporate.

I would bet cash money these are symptoms of systemic problems at the airline.

Despite the phrasing in the top of the article (copied to the post), it sounds like the pilot had permission (from someone?) to rest and was intentionally sleeping, and it was only the co-pilot who accidentally fell asleep.

Can't say for this airline but I know it's a issue in the united states of schedules that are just to make it work because technically the pilots are "well rested" and as long as they are within max hours it's allowed. They often put the burden on the pilot to make the call and unless you are a senior pilot you are gonna get shit on for calling in unsafe for lack of sleep

Id rather my plane driver fall asleep than my bus driver

This is the best summary I could come up with:


According to a preliminary report released Saturday by the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), both the pilot and co-pilot fell asleep simultaneously for 28 minutes during a flight from Kendari in Southeast Sulawesi province to the capital Jakarta on January 25, causing navigational errors as “the aircraft was not in the correct flight path.”

The flight, BTK6723, lasted two hours and 35 minutes, and successfully landed in Jakarta, according to Antara and the preliminary report.

Twelve minutes after the last recorded transmission by the co-pilot, the Jakarta area control center (ACC) tried to reach the aircraft, but there was no reply from the pilots, it said.

Around 28 minutes after the last recorded transmission, the pilot-in-command woke up and realized the plane was not in the correct flight path.

The preliminary report detailed that the pilot-in-command told the ACC that the flight had experienced a “radio communication problem” that had been resolved.

Flight crews of BTK6723 have also been grounded according to standard operating procedure pending further investigation, she added, according to the news agency.


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