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.

“Last 45 mins of flt [flight] I fell asleep and so did the FO [first officer],” said the narrative in the report.

The captain noted they were approaching a point where they were to begin their descent into Denver International Airport about 96km south east of there at 35,000 feet, much higher than required, at 978kmph not a required slower speed.

“I woke up, why I don’t know, and heard frantic calls from ATC. I answered ATC and abided by all instructions to get down. Woke FO [first officer] up.”

While unable to find a report on the incident, Hodas said the airline has received similar reports in the past and said pilot fatigue is a bigger issue in the industry than the public realises.