According to flight tracking data provided by FlightRadar24, Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET343 was still at a high cruising altitude of 11 277 meters on August 15 when it flew over the Ethiopian capital. < /p>
According to official sources, when the plane flew at such a height over the runway of Addis Ababa International Airport, on which it was supposed to land, the autopilot turned off and an alarm went off in the cockpit.
< p>From loud and sharp sounds, the pilots woke up and began to descend. As a result, after about 25 minutes, the liner eventually landed without further incident. Ethiopian Airlines has not yet publicly commented on media reports about the flight, but the flight has already raised public concerns about pilot fatigue.
In recent months, numerous pilot unions around the world have been raising the alarm about crew fatigue as airlines want to quickly recover lost revenues after two years of downtime caused by the pandemic.
Maximum hours pilots are allowed to work are governed by regulations known as “Time of Flight Limits”. The purpose of their introduction — reduce the risk of fatigue, but regulations differ from country to country and serve as a guide only for airlines.
Pilot fatigue has been considered one of the most serious threats to flight safety for many years, and it has, however, still been fought against pilots think they are overtired at work.
In April, two pilots on an ITA Airways New York — Rome fell asleep at the helm. As part of the fatigue reduction protocol, the first officer performed a “supervised rest” in which he was allowed to sleep at the controls of the aircraft, while the captain had to control the flight.
However, in this incident, the captain also fell asleep, although he himself denied the accusation. However, an investigation by the airline found that the pilot was lying and he was fired.