Pilot sacked after being accused of falling asleep during New York to Rome flight
A pilot working for Italy’s state-run airline, ITA, has been fired for allegedly falling asleep at the controls during a flight from New York to Rome last month.
The Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported that both pilots had dozed off in the cockpit on flight AZ609, flying from the US to Italy on 30 April.
The co-pilot of the flight, it says, was taking “controlled rest” at the time, as is allowed by most airlines - but the captain of the flight was also unreachable by air traffic control for just over 10 minutes, with the plane cruising on autopilot.
As the plane was flying over France, the communications blackout sparked a terror alert, with French air traffic control informing their Italian counterparts that the aircraft may have been highjacked.
Though the pilot who was not taking approved rest denies he fell asleep, he has been sacked by the airline, which has not provided an explanation as to why he was unreachable in the cockpit.
Italian politician Michele Anzaldi took to Twitter to apologise for the incident on the state-run airline.
“What happened on the ITA flight from New York, where both pilots fell asleep, is very grave,” he said. “The company has a duty to guarantee that this will never happen again and must apologise to the passengers.”
”Controlled rest” rules dictate that one of two pilots may take some sleep in the cockpit for around 10-40 minutes on a long-haul flight, while the aircraft is cruising, to remain rested and competent on a long shift.
Pilots must agree to this beforehand, and cabin crew are informed that one pilot is taking some rest.
Flight data shows that flight AZ609 did not lose altitude or veer from its intended route during the radio silence from the pilots.
A spokesperson for ITA, Davide D’Amico, told The Telegraph that passenger safety was never compromised.
ITA launched in October 2021, replacing defunct Italian flag-carrier Alitalia, ending a 74-year business history that was marred in recent years by a series of financial crises.
The runup to Alitalia’s formal demise was marked by protests and strikes as it emerged that the much smaller ITA Airways would only be hiring around a quarter of Alitalia’s more than 10,000 employees.
The Independent has contacted ITA for comment.
