The Indonesian transport ministry has opened an investigation into Batik Air after two of its pilots were found to have fallen asleep during a recent domestic flight.
The pilot and co-pilot were simultaneously asleep for approximately 28 minutes during a flight from South East Sulawesi province to Jakarta on Jan 25.
The revelation was contained in a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT). The report was dated Feb 27 but only came to light this week, according to media reports.
The Jakarta Globe said the report indicated that one of the pilots did not get sufficient rest the night before the flight as he was attending to his twin babies the day before.
Despite resulting in a series of navigation errors, the incident did not cause harm to the 153 passengers and four flight attendants aboard the Airbus A320 during the two-hour, 35-minute flight.
According to the report, the incident unfolded about half an hour after takeoff when the captain requested a brief break from the second-in-command, a request that was granted.
The co-pilot then took over command of the aircraft, but also inadvertently fell asleep, the report said.
Twelve minutes after the last recorded transmission from the co-pilot, Jakarta air traffic control inquired how long the aircraft needed to continue on its current heading, receiving no response. Despite multiple attempts to establish contact, including calls from other pilots, there was no response from Flight BTK6723, the Globe said, quoting from the report.
Twenty-eight minutes after the last recorded transmission, the pilot woke up and realised his co-pilot was asleep and that the aircraft was not on the correct flight path.
He immediately woke his colleague up, responded to the calls from Jakarta and corrected the flight path, the report said.
The plane landed safely after the incident.
The transport ministry “strongly reprimands” Batik Air over the incident, AFP quoted air transport director-general M Kristi Endah Murni as saying, calling on airlines to pay more attention to their crews’ rest time.
Batik Air, a subsidiary of Lion Air Group, said in a statement on Saturday that it “operates with adequate rest policy” and that it was “committed to implement all safety recommendations”.
The pilots, Indonesian nationals aged 32 and 28, were not named, but they have been temporarily suspended, it added.