Pilots fall asleep during flight, miss landing at airport

The pilot and co-pilot of an Ethiopian Airlines flight fell asleep during a routine trip and overshot the runway while landing, according to reports.

The incident took place when the plane was engaged in autopilot mode during a schedule trip from Khartoum in Sudan, to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Boeing 737 aircraft was cruising at 37,000 feet and had to descend for landing, but the plane overshot the point of descent at Addis Ababa and kept on cruising.

Air traffic tried to contact them after they failed to descend but the pilots did not respond.

It was only after the plane had shot past the destination airport that the aircraft's autopilot system got disengaged and the alarm went off waking up the crew. They soon realised what had happened and took control of the plane, following which, they started their descend and managed to land the plane safely on the runway.

Several experts who commented on social media raised serious concerns over pilot fatigue.

• Africa