Sleepy pilots nod off during flight

TWO commercial pilots allegedly fell asleep on a US flight, with one pilot waking up to “frantic” calls from air traffic controllers warning that they were approaching the airport at twice the speed allowed.

The incident on a March 2004 flight between Baltimore and Denver, which was discussed during a Congressional hearing this week, was reported by the captain on the flight on NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System, which allows crew members to anonymously document incidents.

Details of the late night- early morning flight, including the airline, flight number or number of passengers are not included in the reporting system. It did note the type of airplane, an Airbus A319, which are flown by Frontier Airlines and United Airlines.