The two pilots of a passenger jet slept off in the middle of the flight, but luckily made a safe landing.
On August 15, as flight ET343 was flying from Khartoum to Addis Abeba, an incident occurred at a height of 37,000 feet.
The planes were supposed to start descending at Addis Abeba Bole Airport.
The Aviation Herald claims that Air Traffic Control made an effort to get in touch with the pilots but was unsuccessful.
The aircraft was safely landed by the pilots, and it remained there for around two and a half hours before taking off on its subsequent voyage.
The occurrence is supported by data, which demonstrates that the plane had overshot the runway and was able to make another approach when the pilots awakened.
‘Deeply alarming occurrence at Africa’s biggest airline – Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 #ET343 was still at cruising altitude of 37,000ft by the time it arrived destination Addis Ababa,’ aviation expert Alex Macheras posted on Twitter.
Why had it not already begun to descend for landing? Both pilots were dozing off.
He spoke of “pilot weariness,” calling it “nothing new.”
People were surprised by the episode, with several describing it as “unprofessional” and “hazardous.”
One commenter expressed hope that both pilots were terminated and that the aviation authorities would look at the airline’s staff duty schedules, among other things. Thank God for keeping everything safe.
Another said, “This is unsafe and unprofessional,” while a third said, “Mad.”
However, not everyone was in favour of firing the pilots; one individual said they could have been overworked and the firm “covered it up.”
Another individual who saw the act expressed their unsurprise, saying, “Ex controller here, believe me when I tell you its occurred here as well.”
It follows a another instance from April when two other pilots are said to have dozed off, according to ABC 7 Eyewitness News.
They were travelling on a plane with up to 250 other passengers from New York to Rome.
An examination into the event found that the two pilots of the ITA Airways aircraft leaving from John F. Kennedy International Airport in April slept out during the trip.
They slept off while the Airbus 330 cruised at 38,000 feet above France.
Investigators found that not only had the captain slept off during the captain’s break, but one of the pilots had as well.
They also said that they lost touch with the jet for around 10 minutes, according to air traffic controllers.
Air traffic control had started getting ready fighter planes to intercept the airliner as concerns about a potential terror attack mounted.
The pilots did, however, ultimately react to air traffic control.
Aviation expert John Nance called the scenario “very risky” in an interview with ABC News.
The aircraft can still fly on autopilot, but doing so is neither wise nor safe, he said.
The pilot stated that the radios had stopped functioning, but ITA Airways added in a statement that his actions were “not compatible with the norms established by the firm.”
Because of this, they concluded that his description of the events and what they discovered were inconsistent.
The aircraft made a safe landing in Rome despite the incident, and the pilot was sacked.
Ethiopian Airlines sent the following statement on Facebook: “We have received information that Ethiopian Flight Number ET343 momentarily lost contact with Addis Ababa Air Traffic Control on August 15, 2022, while travelling from Khartoum to Addis Ababa.
The aeroplane eventually made a safe landing once contact was established. The concerned Crew has been taken out of service until an investigation is conducted. Depending on how the inquiry turns out, the appropriate remedial action will be done. Our first goal has always been and will always be safety.