Two Ethiopian Airlines pilots fell asleep while flying flights from Khartoum Sudan to the capital of Ethiopia Addis Ababa and missed their landing. The incident occurred on Monday, according to Aviation Herald, which added that Air Traffic Control (ATC) raised a warning when the ET343 flight approached the airport but did not start offspring. While the pilots fell asleep, the Autopilot Boeing 737 system made the aircraft sail at 37,000 feet, the outlet said further. Furthermore, saying that the aircraft remained on the ground for about 2.5 hours before leaving for the next flight.
ATC tried to contact the pilot several times but could not work. When the plane crept on the runway where it should land, the autopilot is cut off. It triggered alarm, which woke up the pilot, according to Aviation Herald.
They then maneuver the aircraft around to land on the runway 25 minutes later, the outlet further said.
Fortunately, no one was injured and the plane landed safely.
Data from the ADS-B flight surveillance system confirmed that the incident occurred and aircraft on the runway. It has posted a picture of the aircraft flight path, which shows loops like unlimited near Addis Ababa airport.
Alex Macheras flight analyst also posted about the event on Twitter, calling it “very alarming”. He also blamed the fatigue of the pilot for it.
A similar event was reported in May when two pilots fell asleep during flights from New York to Rome when the plane traveled 38,000 feet on the ground.