Ethiopian Airlines flight misses landing after pilots fall asleep mid-air

An Ethiopian Airlines plane flying from Sudan to Ethiopia missed landing on August 15 after both pilots fell asleep.

An alert was issued when flight ET343 approached the Addis Ababa airport but did not start to descend.

The aircraft's autopilot system kept it cruising at 37,000 feet while Air Traffic Control tried to get in contact with the crew after the plane missed the landing, according to the report.

 The autopilot was disconnected as the aircraft crossed the runway, and an alarm was triggered which woke up the crew. After that, 25 minutes later, the pilots made a landing.

According to air traffic control data, the aircraft continued to cruise at 37,000 feet before overflying the runway.

The plane remained on the ground for around 2.5 hours before taking off on its next flight.

" A deeply alarming occurrence at Africa's largest airline - Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 ET343 was still at cruising altitude of 37,000ft by the time it arrived destination Addis Abeba," tweeted aviation analyst Alex Macheras on Twitter after the incident.

 "Why hadn’t it started to descend for landing? Both pilots were asleep," Macheras added.

Deeply concerning incident at Africa’s largest airline — Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 #ET343 was still at cruising altitude of 37,000ft by the time it reached destination Addis Ababa

Why hadn’t it started to descend for landing? Both pilots were asleep. https://t.co/cPPMsVHIJD pic.twitter.com/RpnxsdtRBf

— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) August 18, 2022