Plane narrowly avoids disaster: Pilots fell asleep!

12PUNTO FOREIGN NEWS

A passenger plane in Indonesia drifted off course after its pilots fell asleep. Air traffic controllers noticed the plane was not following its normal flight path and attempted to contact it, but received no response. Once the pilots woke up, the plane landed safely without any incident.

According to a report by the Indonesian state news agency Antara, citing the ministry's Director General of Civil Aviation Kristi Endah Murni, the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation will launch an investigation after two Batik Air pilots fell asleep during their recent flight.

According to a preliminary report released on Saturday by the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), both the pilot and the co-pilot fell asleep simultaneously for 28 minutes during the flight from Kendari in Southeast Sulawesi province to the capital, Jakarta, on January 25, leading to navigation errors. The plane drifted off its route and proceeded along different paths for a period.

According to the KNKT preliminary report, none of the 153 passengers and 4 flight crew members on board were injured, and no damage occurred to the aircraft.

According to the preliminary report, flight BTK6723 landed successfully in Jakarta after a 2-hour and 35-minute journey.

The report states that the second-in-command had informed his co-pilot earlier in the day that he had 'not rested properly.'

On the flight prior to the incident, the co-pilot had been able to sleep for 'about 30 minutes.' After the plane left Kendari and reached cruising altitude, the captain also requested permission to rest, and the co-pilot took over the aircraft. According to the report, about 90 minutes before the end of the flight, the second-in-command 'accidentally fell asleep.'

It was stated that 12 minutes after the last transmission recorded by the co-pilot, the Jakarta Area Control Center (ACC) attempted to reach the plane, but there was no response from either pilot. About 28 minutes after the last recorded transmission, the captain woke up and realized the plane was not on the correct flight path. It was noted that the captain then woke up the second-in-command and responded to the ACC.

The preliminary report noted that the captain told the ACC that there had been a 'radio communication issue' during the flight.

The names of the pilots were not disclosed in the report, but it was stated that they were two Indonesian men aged 32 and 28. The report stated that the co-pilot had one-month-old twins and 'had to wake up several times to help his wife take care of the babies.'

According to Antara, Murni said in a statement, "We will investigate and review the night flight operation in Indonesia regarding Fatigue Risk Management for Batik Air and other flight operators."

According to the news agency, the flight crew of BTK6723 has also been suspended according to standard operating procedures pending further investigation.