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HORROR AT 37,000 FEET: Boeing 737 pilots FALL ASLEEP, and are woken up by autopilot alarm on DESCENT!

According to an aviation expert, the pair must have been suffering from 'pilot fatigue'

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA: Two pilots fell asleep in the middle of a flight but managed to land the plane without hurting anyone. Africa’s largest airline Ethiopia Airlines' flight ET343 was traveling from Khartoum to Addis Ababa on Monday, August 15, when the frantic incident unfolded. The aircraft was on autopilot and was continuing in accordance with the route set by the Flight Management Computer (FMC) and was expected to land on the runway designated for it. The pilots controlling the Boeing 737 were meant to begin their descent to Addis Ababa Bole Airport, but flight radar data shows they overshot their destination. Air traffic control tried to get hold of the pair but were unsuccessful. They eventually woke when the autopilot disconnected and sounded an alarm.

Data confirmed the aircraft stayed at 37,000 feet as it shot straight over the airport, the Aviation Herald reports. The crew then expedited the aircraft for a safe landing on the runway 25 minutes after they overflew it. The plane remained on the ground and took off 2.5 hours later for the next flight. Aviation analyst Alex Macheras said in a tweet that the development was more concerning because the aircraft overflew the runway at 37,000 feet. He said the pair were suffering from ‘pilot fatigue', which he described as ‘nothing new’. Macheras tweeted, "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."

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“Pilot fatigue is nothing new, and continues to pose one of the most significant threats to air safety internationally,” he added. The incident left people shocked as social media users described it "unprofessional and dangerous," but others were more sympathetic, suggesting the pilots could have been overworked. Another person in the replies claimed that the problem was more common than people think, writing, “Ex controller here, trust me when I tell you its happened here as well.”

A similar incident was reported on April 30 when two pilots fell asleep while flying a plane from New York to Rome with up to 250 passengers on board. According to an investigation into the incident, both pilots of the ITA Airways flight from John F Kennedy International Airport cruised at 38,000 feet. Investigators discovered that one of the pilots was sleeping during his break. Meanwhile, the captain had also fallen asleep and air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane for around 10 minutes.

As fears grew of a possible terrorist incident, air traffic control had begun to prepare fighter jets to intercept the plane. However, the pilots eventually responded to air traffic control. Despite the incident, the plane landed safely in Rome and the captain was fired. Pilot associations have since slammed the aviation industry’s inability to understand pilot fatigue and likened it to "handing car keys to a drunk driver."