Two Batik Air pilots fell asleep during a flight from Kendari in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, to the capital Jakarta on 25 January 2024, it has been revealed.
Unreachable by air traffic control
A report recently made public by Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) details how the two men were unreachable by air traffic control as they both slept for just under half an hour, resulting in the plane leaving the correct flight path.
The Airbus A320 went on to land safely in Jakarta after two hours and 35 minutes and it is not known whether any of the 153 passengers or four flight attendants realised there was an issue.
Sleep deprivation
The incident has been attributed to insufficient rest. While the identity of the pilots has not been revealed, their age has. Both are Indonesian males, aged 28 and 32. One of them, a father of new-born twins, informed the pilot-in-command he had not had “proper rest” but had been able to have 30 minutes’ sleep on a previous flight.
About 90 minutes into the flight and shortly after reaching cruising height however, the lead pilot himself requested a rest, leaving his sleep-deprived co-pilot at the helm. The co-pilot then also “inadvertently fell asleep,” the report said.
Strong reprimand
An air traffic centre in the Jakarta area was unable to contact the aircraft, with about 28 minutes of the flight unaccounted for and about 16 minutes with no recorded transmissions in response to contact attempts before the pilot-in-command woke up, realised what had happened, corrected the flight path and reassumed control.
The preliminary report has led the transport ministry to “strongly reprimand” Batik Air over the incident, said air transport director general, Maria Kristi Endah Murni. Air crew rest time protocols would need to be reviewed for all airlines, she said. Batik Air has been urged to conduct regular cockpit checks.
Pilots suspended pending further investigation
A further probe will now take place carried out by a flight safety inspector alongside a “review of the night flight operation in Indonesia regarding the Fatigue Risk Management for Batik Air and other flight operators,” according to Murni.
Pending the inquiry’s outcome, the pilots, who initially told air traffic control they had experienced a “radio communication problem”, have been suspended.
Batik Air, a Lion Air subsidiary launched as a competitor to flag carrier Garuda in 2012, said in a statement that it “operates with adequate rest policy” and that it was “committed to implement all safety recommendations”.
