Aircraft veers 28 minutes off course after both pilots fall asleep in the cockpit

A sleep-deprived pilot and copilot have been accused of allowing the plane they were flying to veer off course after they both dozed off in the cockpit. The flight was carrying 159 people on board, according to a report about the incident.

Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee discovered that Batik Air flight BTK6723 veered off course on January 25 when both pilots fell asleep in the cockpit for about 28 minutes. Neither pilot was named in the document.

The plane was traveling from South East Sulawesi to Jakarta, which was expected to take two hours and 35 minutes. After the plane reached cruising altitude, the 32-year-old pilot asked his 28-year-old copilot if he had permission to sleep for a little while.

When the pilot got confirmation, he reportedly fell asleep for an hour. He woke up briefly to ask his copilot if he wanted to switch places, according to the New York Post.

The 28-year-old declined the offer, and the captain soon fell back asleep. However, when the captain awoke again later on, he found that his copilot had fallen asleep, and the aircraft "was not on the correct flight path," according to the report.

The pilots eventually got the flight back on course and safely landed in Jakarta. No one was injured during the flight, and the plane did not suffer any damage, according to NBC News. The report from the safety committee did not mention if the pilots would face any disciplinary action.

Both pilots were given the green light to fly before the January 25 flight after their blood pressure and heart rate exams came back normal and alcohol tests came back negative.

However, the copilot was said to have had a busy few days leading up to the flight. Not only this, but he was a father to one-month-old twins, and he had recently moved into a new home.

The copilot reportedly admitted to investigators that "his sleep quality had degraded by the several wakes up" from his children on the night before the flight.

The Post reported that according to a survey in July 2023 from the European Cockpit Association, 75% of those questioned admitted that they had fallen asleep at least once while flying a plane. The total number of pilots questioned in the survey was 6,893.

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