A recent report by the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) in Indonesia has revealed that an Indonesian pilot and his co-pilot fell asleep for 28 minutes during a Batik Air flight.
The plane was travelling from Sulawesi to Jakarta and experienced navigation errors as a result.
The report stated that one of the pilots, a 28-year-old father of twin babies, had been deprived of sleep.
He attributed his reduced sleep quality to taking care of his one-month-old children.
In response, the agency has urged the airline to conduct more detailed checks to prevent such incidents.
According to the Jakarta Globe, KNKT shared that the pilot and co-pilot of a Batik Air flight travelling from Southeast Sulawesi to Jakarta fell asleep for 28 minutes on 25 Jan.
The incident took place half an hour after takeoff when the pilot asked his co-pilot if he could take a brief break.
Source: Batik Air on Facebook
His co-pilot granted this request and took control of the aircraft, but then unintentionally fell asleep as well.
Multiple attempts by the Jakarta Area Control Centre (ACC) to establish contact with the plane received no response. There were also calls from other pilots that went unanswered.
28 minutes after the last recorded transmission, the pilot woke up and discovered that the aircraft had gone off course.
He woke his co-pilot up and immediately replied to other pilots’ calls and the Jakarta ACC, stating that the aircraft had a radio communication problem that was since resolved.
According to AFP via The Straits Times (ST), he corrected the course of the plane as well.
The plane, which was carrying 153 passengers and four flight attendants, eventually landed safely in Jakarta with no further incidences.
The journey lasted two hours and 35 minutes.
Both the pilot and the co-pilot, 32-year-old and 28-year-old Indonesian nationals, were fit for duty.
They passed the appropriate health checks which included checking for blood pressure, heart rate, and alcohol levels.
However, the co-pilot was found to be sleep-deprived as he was caring for his one-month-old twin babies before the flight.
He had attempted to sleep but had to wake up on multiple occasions to assist his wife with looking after them. The co-pilot thus felt his sleep quality had “degraded” due to his interrupted sleep.
The KNKT report noted that there was a lack of detailed cockpit check procedures by Batik Air.
The agency thus recommended that the airline develop more of such measures and ensure that its pilots and cabin crew were well-rested before flights.
Also read: Plane Door Falls Off During US Domestic Flight, Airline Apologises & Grounds Aircraft
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Featured image adapted from TTR Weekly.
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