According to the report from Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), a preliminary inquiry has uncovered that two Batik Air pilots were asleep simultaneously for nearly thirty minutes during a regional flight in January of this year. KNTK reported that flight had 157 passengers onboard and, despite this incident, the aircraft managed to land safely at its intended destination.
PT Batik Air Indonesia, operating as Batik Air, is an Indonesian scheduled airline based at Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia. The airline was founded in 2012 as the full-service arm of the Lion Air Group and made its maiden flight on 3 May 2013 from Jakarta to Manado and Yogyakarta.
On January 25, during a Batik Air flight from Kendari to Jakarta that lasted for two hours and 35 minutes, an incident occurred. According to the report, the plane deviated from its intended path while both the pilot and co-pilot were asleep for 28 minutes.
The pilots’ identities were not specified in the KNKT report. However, it mentioned that the captain is a 32-year-old individual, while the second-in-command is 28 years old. Both pilots are Indonesian citizens who had undergone health screenings and tested negative for alcohol.
The media reports suggest that the co-pilot had informed the captain about his insufficient rest earlier in the day. The KNKT report emphasizes that the co-pilot, who recently became a father to twins and had relocated the day before the flight, was dealing with sleep deprivation.
Per the report, the captain requested permission from the co-pilot to take a break approximately half an hour after departure. After waking up less than an hour later, the captain inquired if the co-pilot also wanted to rest. Upon receiving a negative response, the captain went back to sleep while the co-pilot continued to be in charge of the aircraft.
Meanwhile, the co-pilot later “inadvertently fell asleep” after making contact with Jakarta’s air traffic control center. According to the report, air traffic control repeatedly tried to contact the cockpit but received no response for 28 minutes until the captain woke up and realized that the aircraft “was not on the correct flight path.”
The co-pilot unintentionally dozed off after establishing communication with Jakarta’s air traffic control center. As per the report, the cockpit was unresponsive to air traffic control’s repeated attempts to establish contact for a duration of 28 minutes, until the captain awoke and became aware that the aircraft was not following the correct flight path.
The pilot eventually corrected the course of the flight, leading to a safe landing in Jakarta. There were no injuries and the aircraft remained undamaged.
According to the news agency AFP, Indonesia’s civil aviation director, Maria Kristi Endah Murni, said the Transportation Ministry “strongly reprimands” Batik Air over the incident and that the two pilots have been placed on leave according to standard operating procedure pending a further investigation.
It was reported that Maria Kristi Endah Murni, the civil aviation director of Indonesia, stated that Batik Air has received a strong reprimand from the Transportation Ministry for the incident. The two pilots have been temporarily suspended, following standard operating procedure, while a thorough investigation takes place.SOURCE: Batik Air Pilots Asleep Midair with 157 Passengers Aboard BY: eTurboNews | eTN
