Ethiopian Airlines suspends pilots who missed landing because they fell asleep

[dualmeister]

NAIROBI - Africa's biggest carrier Ethiopian Airlines said it has suspended two pilots who reportedly fell asleep and missed their landing during a flight from Khartoum to Addis Ababa.

The plane overshot the runway at Bole International Airport in the Ethiopian capital on Monday before landing safely, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.

Independent website The Aviation Herald said the pilots fell asleep during the flight and were only woken up by an alarm triggered when autopilot mode disconnected.

The plane circled back to land 25 minutes later, flight data showed.

Ethiopian Airlines said on Friday that flight ET343 had temporarily lost communication with air traffic control but landed safely after it was restored.

Source

 

[Geoff.D]

had temporarily lost communication with air traffic control

Quick thinking sleepy pilots trying to cover up?

 

[epah]

This is why i dont fly. Gimme a 320d and i will drive anywhere.

 

[ForceFate]

This is why i dont fly. Gimme a 320d and i will drive anywhere.

I have a parcel delivery to Auckland, NZ.

 

[ForceFate]

They overflew the runway by 37k ft!


I hope things work out for them. Fatigue is an arse.

 

[Stokstert]

This is why i dont fly. Gimme a 320d and i will drive anywhere.

And an Airfryer to prepare onboard food.

 

[PAYBACK]

Flew with them this year. Although flight was fine. On landing they lost my bag for a week (zero compensation). On return flight Friday evening 21:00 Heathrow there was system failure and they just told us to come back the next day. No hotel vouchers nothing. ****ing clowns.

 

[epah]

I have a parcel delivery to Auckland, NZ.

Give me a 320d and i will deliver it for you.

 

[epah]

And an Airfryer to prepare onboard food.

My kinda jam.

 

[Geoff.D]

Terrible English:

"The concerned crew have been removed from operation pending further investigation," the airline said in a statement without saying if the pilots had been asleep.

What were the crew concerned about? That they would be caught out? Should have been written thus:

"The concerned crew [concerned] have been removed from operation pending further investigation,"

London-based aviation analyst Alex Macheras described the incident as "deeply concerning", blaming it on widespread fatigue that poses a major threat to air safety.

At least someone knows how to use the word correctly.

 

["D"]

Ethiopian

What else did they expect?
Ethiopians are bound to fall asleep.
Their citizens haven't eaten much for generations.

 

[vaakseun]

Can't these planes land themselves these days? No point in waking up the pilots if they are having a good kip.

 

[vaakseun]

 

[ponder]

They overflew the runway by 37k ft!


I hope things work out for them. Fatigue is an arse.

Should be fired and license revoked.

 

[borro]

Too low. Terrain…
pull up.

 

[now05ster]

Too low. Terrain…
pull up.

Naah, at 37000 ft they were OK.

 

[Not_original]

This is why i dont fly. Gimme a 320d and i will drive anywhere.

There is a reason why Toyota Land cruiser is popular in middle Africa, and it being a Toyota has very little to do with it

 

[ForceFate]

Should be fired and license revoked.

They'll probably get fired but I don't think their licences will be revoked. There was a similar incident on a flight from NY to Rome recently.

 

["D"]

Can't these planes land themselves these days? No point in waking up the pilots if they are having a good kip.

Username checks out, beautifully!

 

[Gordon_R]

BBC version from yesterday:

Ethiopian Airlines pilots 'overshoot runway after falling asleep'

The Ethiopian Airlines pilots dozed off at 37,000ft but woke to land the plane, an aviation journal says.

www.bbc.com