Two pilots of a passenger plane fell asleep in mid-flight – but miraculously landed their plane without anyone being hurt.
Flight ET343 was en route from Khartoum to Addis Ababa on August 15 when the incident occurred at 37,000 feet.
The pilots were to begin their descent to Addis Ababa Bole Airport.
According to the Aviation Herald, air traffic control attempted to contact the pilots but was unsuccessful.
Eventually, the crew awoke after the plane’s autopilot disconnected and sounded an alarm.
The pilots managed to land the plane safely, and it stayed on the runway for about two and a half hours before departing for its next flight.
Data confirms the incident, showing the plane had overshot the runway and managed to make another approach when the pilots woke up.
Aviation analyst Alex Macheras wrote on Twitter about the “deeply worrying” incident and posted a picture of the flight path
Aviation analyst Alex Macheras wrote on Twitter: “Deeply worrying incident involving Africa’s largest airline – Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 #ET343 was still at a cruising altitude of 37,000 feet when it reached its destination of Addis Ababa.
‘Why hadn’t it started descending for a landing? Both pilots were asleep.
He was referring to “pilot fatigue”, which he described as “nothing new”.
Aviation analyst Alex Macheras wrote on Twitter that the incident was “deeply concerning” and posted a photo of the route
The incident shocked people, with many saying the pilots should be fired and one person writing “crazy”.
The incident has shocked people, with many saying it was “unprofessional” and “dangerous”.
One person wrote: “Hopefully both pilots are fired and the aviation authorities start an investigation into this airline’s crew rosters etc.” Thank God nothing bad happened.’
Another added: “This is unprofessional and dangerous,” while a third added: “Crazy”.
But not everyone agreed the pilots should be fired, with one person arguing they may have been overworked and the company “covered it up”.
And another person wasn’t surprised by the incident, commenting: “Ex-controller here, trust me when I tell you it happened here too.”
Another person wasn’t surprised by the incident, commenting: “Ex-controller here, trust me when I tell you it happened here too.”
It comes after a separate incident that occurred in April and was reported by ABC 7 Eyewitness News, in which two other pilots allegedly fell asleep.
They were on a flight from New York City to Rome with up to 250 passengers on board.
According to an investigation into the incident, both pilots on the ITA Airways flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in April slept during the trip.
They took a nap as the Airbus 330 flew at 38,000 feet over France.
Investigators determined that one of the pilots slept during his break, but the captain had also fallen asleep.
And they added that air traffic controllers told them they lost contact with the plane for about 10 minutes.
As fears of a possible terrorist incident grew, air traffic control had begun preparing fighter jets to intercept the plane.
However, the pilots eventually responded to air traffic control.
Speaking to ABC News, John Nance, an aviation analyst, described the situation as “extremely dangerous”.
He added, “The plane can still fly on autopilot, but that’s not smart or safe,” he said.
In a statement, ITA Airways told the news channel that the captain claimed the radios had stopped working, but added that his behavior was “inconsistent with the rules dictated by the company”.
Since then, investigators decided there were contradictions between his account of events and what they found.
Despite the incident, the plane landed safely in Rome and the captain was fired.
Web has reached out to Ethiopian Airlines for comment.