An Ethiopian airlines plane missed the landing after both pilots fell asleep. The aircraft, on autopilot, continued to cruise at 37,000 feet before overflying the runway
India Today Web Desk
When the plane flew over the runway the autopilot was disconnected.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/File)
HIGHLIGHTS
The flight was still at cruising altitude of 37,000ft by the time it reached destination Addis Ababa
An Ethiopian airlines plane flying from Sudan to Ethiopia missed landing on August 15 after both pilots fell asleep. An alert was issued when flight ET343 approached the Addis Ababa airport but did not start to descend, raising concerns.
After the plane missed the landing, the Air Traffic Control tried to contact the plane’s crew while the aircraft’s autopilot system kept it cruising at 37,000ft, the Independent reported.
When the plane flew over the runway, the autopilot was disconnected, an alarm was triggered which reportedly woke up the crew. The pilots then landed the plane 25 minutes later.
READ | Flight delayed by six hours over mobile chat between couple in Mangaluru
According to air traffic control data, the aircraft continued to cruise at 37,000 feet before overflying the runway.
"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," said aviation analyst Alex Macheras confirming the incident
"Why hadn’t it started to descend for landing? Both pilots were asleep," Macheras said in a Tweet.
Ethiopian Airlines Removes Crew Who Allegedly Fell Asleep On Air, Pending Further Investigation
Addis Abeba — Ethiopian Airlines said it has "removed from operation pending further investigation," its crew who were operating the flight number ET343 en route from Khartoum to Addis Abeba on 15 August, and that "appropriate corrective action will be taken based on the outcome of the investigation".
According to a report on The Aviation Herald, "an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration ET-AOB performing flight ET-343 from Khartoum (Sudan) to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), was enroute at FL370 when the pilots fell asleep. The aircraft continued past the top of descent maintaining FL370 and continued along the FMC route set up for an approach to runway 25L without descending however. ATC tried to contact the crew numerous times without success. After overflying runway 25L at FL370 the autopilot disconnected, the disconnect wailer woke the crew up who then maneuvered the aircraft for a safe landing on runway 25L about 25 minutes after overflying the runway at FL370."
In response, Ethiopian Airlines released the following statement:
"We have received a report which indicates Ethiopian flight number ET343 en route from Khartoum to Addis Ababa temporarily lost communication with Addis Ababa Air Traffic Control on 15 August 2022. The flight later landed safely after communication was restored. The concerned Crew have been removed from operation pending further investigation. Appropriate corrective action will be taken based on the outcome of the investigation. Safety has always been and will continue to be our first priority." AS
No comments:
Post a Comment