Indonesian Pilots Fell Asleep For 30 Minutes On Flight With 153 People

In a shocking incident, two Indonesian pilots of Batik Air fell asleep for around half an hour mid-flight, with passengers onboard, as per a report in the Guardian. The pilot and co-pilot slept at the same time for roughly 28 minutes. As per the preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), on January 25, the Batik Air flight was its route from South East Sulawesi to Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia.

Although there were several navigational errors as a result of the incident, the two-hour and thirty-five-minute flight did not result in any injuries to the Airbus A320's 153 passengers or four flight attendants.

Transport Ministry's Civil Aviation Director-General M Kristi Endah Murni, stated that the ministry "strongly reprimands" Batik Air for the incident and urged airlines to be more mindful of their aircrew's rest time. An investigation is also being launched by the ministry.

As per the report, the second-in-command pilot had notified his co-pilot earlier in the day that he did not get "proper rest." The captain requested permission from his second-in-command to take a short break about ninety minutes after takeoff, and the request was approved. The investigation stated that once the co-pilot assumed control of the aircraft, he unintentionally slept off as well. "The second-in-command had one-month-old twin babies. His wife took care of the babies and he assisted while at home," the report said.

The Jakarta Area Control Centre (ACC) attempted to contact the aircraft twelve minutes following the co-pilot's last known transmission, but the pilots did not respond, according to the ACC. Around 28 minutes after the last recorded transmission, the pilot-in-command woke up and realised the plane was not on the proper flying route. According to the report, he then woke up the second-in-command and responded to the ACC. The pilot-in-command informed the ACC that there had been a "radio communication problem" during the flight, but that it had been fixed.

The report identified the pilot-in-command as a 32-year-old male Indonesian, and the second-in-command as a 28-year-old male Indonesian, but did not disclose the names of the pilots.

The flight, BTK6723, landed safely and no injuries were reported. As per the standard operating procedure, the flight crews have also been grounded till further investigation is conducted.

Batik Air said in a statement that it "operates with adequate rest policy" and that it was "committed to implement all safety recommendations". It added the pilots have been suspended.