WNAM MONITORING: The Transportation Ministry said Saturday it would open a probe into local airline Batik Air after two of its pilots were found to have fallen asleep during a recent flight.
A pilot and co-pilot were simultaneously asleep for approximately 28 minutes during a flight from Southeast Sulawesi to the capital Jakarta on January 25, a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) said. The incident resulted in a series of navigation errors, but the Airbus A320’s 153 passengers and four flight attendants were unharmed during the two-hour-and-35-minute flight.
The transport ministry “strongly reprimands” Batik Air over the incident, air transport director-general M. Kristi Endah Murni said, calling on airlines to pay more attention to their air crew’s rest time. “We will carry out an investigation and review of the night flight operation in Indonesia related with Fatigue Risk Management for Batik Air and all flight operators,” Kristi said in a statement.
