Indonesian pilots both fall asleep mid-flight

Pilots fell asleep during flight from Sulawesi to Jakarta on 25 January. 32-year-old pilot told his co-pilot to take control of the aircraft. But the 28- year-old inadvertently fell asleep as well. He had been helping his wife look after their one-month-old twins.

Medical tests before the flight deemed that the men were fit to fly. Their blood pressure and heart rate were normal and alcohol tests came back negative. But while the pilots appeared to be fully rested, the tests failed to determine whether the quality of their rest was good, aviation expert Alvin Lie said. Indonesia’s head of air transport says Batik Air should pay more attention to their crew’s rest time.

The same airline was forced to have an emergency landing in 2019 after the pilot fainted. Batik Air has said it has an adequate rest policy and is committed to safety.

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