Pilot into deep sleep but safety wasn't compromised!

March 01, 2013 16:35
Pilot into deep sleep but safety wasn't compromised!

On Friday, Air New Zealand informed that one of its pilots fell into a deep sleep while at the controls of an international flight but insisted that safety aboard the aircraft was never compromised.

According to a report released after a freedom of information request that he was one of two pilots flying a 332-seat Boeing 777-300ER from London to Los Angeles in November 2011.

Moreover, The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) document said the pilot voluntarily submitted a “fatigue report” with the regulator, recounting how he slept on the job. In fact, that the pilot, who was not identified, blamed a poor night’s rest in London, when air-conditioning problems in his hotel meant he had to change rooms three times, for his exhausted state on the flight.

He said that suddenly and without any warning, he fell into a deep sleep on the flight deck and that the same event occurred twice.

To say more,Air New Zealand said safety was paramount for the airline and it encouraged staff to report instances of fatigue as part of a programme to manage shift rosters to address the issue and that it said the flight in question had three pilots aboard.

It mentioned in a statement that during the cruise phase of the flight one of the two operating pilots fell into sleep twice for around a minute and woke spontaneously while the other operating pilot on the flight deck was aware of this and safety was not compromised at any point.

To conclude, Air New Zealand said the pilot would not face any action regarding constituting discipline as it did not want to discourage staff from reporting such incidents.

(AW:Samrat Biswas)

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