In a bizarre development, an Indonesian Airline Batik Air two pilots fell asleep for almost 28 minutes resulting in the flight going off path. Both the pilot and co-pilot reportedly fell asleep during a flight on 25 January from Sulawesi to the capital Jakarta. Local media reports suggest that one of the pilots who fell asleep was tired from helping care for his newborn twins. As a result, the Batik Air flight Airbus A320 went off the path for a brief period, however, it landed safely with all 153 passengers and crew members unharmed.
Now, Indonesian authorities have launched an investigation against the pilots. Both the pilots have been temporarily suspended. As per reports, the pilot told his co-pilot to take control of the flight for half an hour after the take-off. The pilot had told the co-pilot that he needed rest, to which the co-pilot agreed. However, the co-pilot suddenly fell asleep as well. According to the report, his wife had just given birth to one-month-old twin babies and he was helping with childcare.
The local media reported that Jakarta air traffic control tried contacting the cockpit of the Batik Air A320 after their last recorded transmission but received no response. Both the pilots did not respond to the ATC for 28 minutes. However, when the pilot woke up he realised that his co-pilot had also fallen asleep. He also found that the aircraft had briefly gone off-course. The pilots then responded to calls from Jakarta and landed the plane safely.