Ethiopian Airlines announced the suspension of two pilots who slept while flying a flight from the Sudanese capital (Khartoum) to Addis Ababa, earlier this week.
The company said, in a statement, yesterday evening, Friday, "We received a report that Ethiopian flight number 343 ET (ET343), which was heading from Khartoum to Addis Ababa, temporarily lost contact with the Addis Ababa air traffic control tower on August 15. this August.”
The statement added that the plane landed safely later after contact was restored, noting that the concerned crew was isolated from service pending further investigation.
The two pilots slept at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,000 metres) and the connection with the air traffic control tower in Addis Ababa was temporarily cut off (Shutterstock-graphic)
In response to media reports that the pilots were sleeping in the cockpit, Ethiopian Airlines said that "communication with the air traffic control tower in Addis Ababa was temporarily lost."
The two pilots slept at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,000 meters), and the plane crossed the airport runway before waking up to land safely, according to the Aviation Herald, a newspaper specialized in aviation accidents.
The newspaper reported that the autopilot alert finally woke up the Ethiopian Airlines crew, and the two pilots landed the plane after returning to the runway.