the two pilots of a plane Ethiopian Airlines is fell asleep during the flight and missed their destination: woken up by the alarm when the autopilot disengaged, As reported on Thursday by the portal Air Live.
According to The Aviation Herald, The pilots of flight ET343, which was going from Khartoum (Sudan) to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), fell asleep during the trajectory they were making last Monday, aboard a Boeing 737-800, and were at 37,000 feet, when It was assumed that was to begin the descent to Addis Ababa Bole airport, in the Ethiopian capital.
Air Traffic Control tried to contact the crew several times without success.. When the autopilot disengaged, the alarm began to sound and woke up the pilots, who finally They landed the plane, 25 minutes after the scheduled arrival time.
What do the flight records say?
The flight tracking showed that the plane exceeded the limit set to start the descent and continued along the established route, but without performing the corresponding maneuvers. When they passed the set point, the autopilot turned off, so the alarm began to sound.
The pilots managed to maneuver the aircraft and return to the route, to finally make a safe landing on the track, almost half an hour after having passed by the place. The direct flight Khartoum-Addis Ababa lasts 1h 50min. The passengers landed after flying almost two and a half hours.
Once landed, the aircraft remained on the ground for approximately two hours before departing for its next flight.
According to the publication, in this case, the flight management system was configured for an approach to the airport without descending. The consequences could have been worse.