Welcome, this is your captain sleeping

Hugo Martin

October 26, 2009

LOS ANGELES: Airline passengers who are shaken by news that two Northwest Airline pilots are under investigation for

overshooting a Minneapolis airport after possibly nodding off will not want to hear this: sometimes pilots sleep in the cockpit.

''Pilots on occasion do take controlled naps,'' said Barry Schiff, an aviation safety consultant and retired pilot. ''So this is not without precedent.''

Although the Federal Aviation Administration bars snoozing in the cockpit,

several airline pilots say they are surprised such napping mishaps have not happened more often, considering longer work schedules for pilots

and advances in aviation that make planes easier to fly.

Advertisement: Story continues belowThe issue of cockpit naps came under scrutiny after the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board announced

they were looking into why Northwest Flight 188, from San Diego to Minneapolis, overshot its airport by 240 kilometres before turning around.

If investigators conclude that the Northwest pilots were snoozing at 37,000 feet, several current and retired pilots say it would not be a surprise.

''Fatigue is a real problem,'' said Sam Mayer, an American Airlines pilot and spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, the union that represents 11,500 American Airlines pilots. '

'I don't know what happened [in Minneapolis], but I wouldn't be surprised if they were asleep.''

It would not be the first time.

A Go Airline flight in February overshot Hilo International Airport in Hawaii by more than 30 kilometres.

The pilots admitted to federal officials that they fell asleep in the cockpit while the plane was on autopilot.

A safety board report said there was an 18-minute gap when no one could reach the flight by radio.

One of the pilots admitted later to investigators that he regularly took planned naps in the cockpit but said this was the first time he had inadvertently fallen asleep. Both pilots were fired.

In 2004 a pilot admitted to federal officials that he and the first officer on an Airbus A319 fell asleep on an overnight flight from Baltimore to Denver.

They awoke to frantic radio calls from the air traffic control tower.

In 1998 all three pilots on a Boeing 747 from Seoul to Anchorage, Alaska, nodded off.

The plane landed safely but the captain admitted that he and his crew made several minor navigational errors because of fatigue.

''Each time when I awoke,'' he told federal aviation officials in an anonymous report that did not name the airline, ''the other two crew members were also asleep.''

Los Angeles Times

Full story here:http://www.smh.com.au/travel/welcome-this-is-your-captain-sleeping-20091025-hep8.html

I just found this when reading some other news and I thought it would interest some of you...

I´m sure one might take a power-nap while the other has control but these stories are scary.Any opinions or thoughts regarding this subject?

By the way, September 12 I´m off to Hong Kong and arriving Bangkok September 19th! Can´t wait, as long as the pilots don´t sleep during approach...

Cheers!

Don't worry..Itis a too short flight

Not only are the pilots a concern what about the air traffic controllers? See this recent event:

http://avherald.com/h?article=439ce8f9&opt=0

Next to the standard aviation panel there needs to be a remotely activated alarm clock installed...

That or just use autoland and forget about the pilots altogether. It's usually more precise anyways.

OP, I think this is why they have auto pilots.

OP, I think this is why they have auto pilots.

Just like the movie "Airplane!" with Leslie Nielsen...