One of two pilots who reportedly fell asleep on a flight from New York to Rome on April 30 has been fired. At first, the pilot claimed he couldn’t be reached because his radio was broken.
Italian outlet la Repubblica reported the incident May 28. According to the publication, personnel at a radar center in Marseilles became concerned when pilots for ITA Airways flight AZ609 did not answer calls for around 10 minutes. At the time, the plane was on autopilot.
ITA is Italy’s state-run airline, which launched in late 2021 to replace Alitalia. A statement from the airline cited by The Independent said one of the pilots was immediately removed for failing to comply with airline procedure.
“For flight AZ609 on 30 April from New York JFK to Rome Fiumicino, ITA Airways initiated and concluded an internal investigation procedure,” said the airline. “The purpose of this internal investigation was to determine the incidents relating to the momentary loss of radio communication between the cockpit and the air traffic control offices, particularly during the overflight of French airspace.”
Through the investigation, ITA determined that the behavior of the captain was not in line with conduct expectations from the company and that there were inconsistencies between the captains account and what was found through an internal investigation. However, the statement did not confirm that the pilot fell asleep.
According to La Repubblica, the co-pilot who also allegedly fell asleep was taking part of a “controlled test,” allowed by most airlines. ITA’s statement said the safety of the flight was not compromised.
“What happened on the ITA flight from New York, where both pilots would have fallen asleep, is very serious,” said Italian politician Michele Anzaldi. “The company has a duty to guarantee that it will never happen again and must apologize to the passengers. Thanks to Repubblica for informing about this unacceptable episode.”
According to a report from ABC 7, the plane’s 250 estimated passengers landed safely in Rome.
In 2020, another pilot fell asleep during an Australian flight and overshot his destination by 70 miles. That pilot was unresponsive for approximately 40 minutes and “had fallen asleep due to fatigue likely exacerbated by mild hypoxia [lack of oxygen] from the intermittent use of supplemental oxygen,” said the Australian Transportation Safety Bureau last year.
In April, CNN Business reported that pilot fatigue has been on the rise, citing a letter from the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association.
“Fatigue, both acute and cumulative, has become Southwest Airlines’ number-one safety threat,” said the letter. It said cancellation chaos caused by severe weather and complications such as staffing shortages related to the COVID-19 pandemic could be contributing factors.
For example, a pilot shortage recently contributed to thousands of flight cancellations over Memorial Day weekend.
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