UP UP AND AWAKE
People always fall asleep on long overseas flights, but usually it's the passengers and not the pilots.
Two ITA Airways pilots reportedly fell asleep while flying from New York to Rome last month with 250 passengers on board. Investigators say one of the pilots was on his sleep break and left the controls in the usually-capable hands of his co-pilot. Unfortunately, he also fell asleep while the plane was 38,000 feet over France. Air traffic controllers grew concerned after they lost contact with the cockpit for 10 minutes. They feared a possible terror situation, so they followed protocols and scrambled fighter jets to intervene. Fortunately, the pilots eventually responded and the jets were called off.
The plane ultimately landed safely in Rome and the pilot who was supposed to be awake and alert was fired. (Business Insider)
Scott's Thoughts:
- Perhaps these pilots are overworked and exhaustion sets in.
- There should be three in the cockpit. This way one can sleep and one can keep the other awake.
- Once they put the plane on autopilot it probably gets very boring up in the sky.