Boeing 737 pilots miss destination, after falling asleep behind plane’s steering wheel

An alarm was triggered in a Boeing 737 plane after the plane missed its landing because the pilots were asleep.

The Ethiopian Airlines plane was on its way to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from Khartoum, Sudan.

The Aviation Herald reports that the plane’s autopilot disconnected when the plane flew past the runway. The system then alerted the snoozing pilots to their mistake.

The airports’s air traffic control (ATC) also raised an alert because the plane was not descending as it approached the runway.

The ATC was also unsuccessful in its attempts to contact the pilots.

The plane landed safely 25 minutes after schedule after the pilots turned the aircraft around.

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The incident reportedly happened on August 15.

Aviation analyst Alex Macheras posted a picture of the plane’s flight route on Twitter. It shows the plane having to fly in an infinity loop to get back to the airport after missing the runway.

He blamed fatigue for the incident.

“Pilot fatigue is nothing new, and continues to pose one of the most significant threats to air safety – internationally,” Macheras said.

In a statement, Ethiopian Airlines said it had seen a report on the incident and has removed the pilots while an investigation is underway.

“The concerned crew have been removed from operation pending further investigation. Appropriate corrective action will be taken based on the outcome of the investigation,” it said.

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