If you have a fear of flying, it's best you skip to the next article...
It has been reported that two pilots onboard Ethiopian Airlines flight ET343 fell asleep in the cockpit - just as their plane was due to make its descent to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
Radar shows that the plane overshot the Addis Ababa airport runway at a terrifying 37,000 feet.
It is understood that air traffic control at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport tried and failed to make contact with the pilots.
The Boeing 737's autopilot disconnect eventually sounded an emergency alarm, waking up the pilots.
Radar then shows the pilots making a sudden u-turn and commencing descent.
Ethiopian is Africa's largest airline in terms of passengers carried, destinations served, fleet size, and revenue. The airline is also the world's 4th largest airline by the number of countries served.
Taking to Twitter, aviation analyst Alex Macheras described the incident as "deeply concerning" before putting the incident down to "pilot fatigue" - something he described as "one of the most significant threats to air safety - internationally. "
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
