I first heard about the dozing pilots about 6 weeks ago while I was home in Hawaii visiting my parents. Back then the National Transportation Safety Board had just begun investigating a claim that two pilots from Mesa’s go! Airlines had fallen asleep while flying passengers from Honolulu to Hilo, Hawaii.
According to news reports, the pilots overshot the Hilo airport by 15 miles and were headed out to sea before they woke up, turned the plane around and landed safely. But there was no official confirmation from the airlines and others close to the company went out of their way to publicly state that all the reports were mere speculation.
Well, just yesterday NTSB investigators confirmed that the pilots admitted to dozing off in the cockpit and failed to respond to air traffic controllers during the flight. According to sources familiar with the case, the pilots reportedly told investigators they were fatigued, but never thought they would fall asleep at the controls.
According to flight records, for nearly 20 minutes on February 13th, air traffic controllers tried to contact the pilots on go! Airlines flight 1002 but got no response. Radar and flight logs also show the plane overshot the Hilo airport by 15 miles and was headed out over the water before the pilots were jolted awake and successfully landed the plane without incident.
Even more alarmingly is the fact that the captain, a 16-year veteran with the carrier, reportedly confessed to NTSB officials that he had fallen asleep in mid-air several times prior to the February incident. Following the incident the pilot says he was admitted to a California hospital where he was diagnosed with a severe case of sleep apnea.
According to news reports, tests show the pilots had no alcohol, narcotics or prescription drugs in their systems.
An airline analyst not affiliated with the investigation told news reporters that pilots employed by go!’s parent company Mesa have complained about keeping exhausting schedules and dealing with severe staffing shortages. In 2007, nearly half of the company’s pilots quit.
Last week the two tired pilots were fired, but not for falling asleep in mid-air, rather the company said they gave the pilots the boot for not reporting the incident to management right away.
So the dozing pilots are gone. Mesa has declined to admit guilt for the incident and we’re all flying in planes commanded by pilots that may or may not be well rested enough to stay awake on the job.
How comforting.
Related Articles:
Insults Flying In The Not-So Friendly Skies
Putting The “Friendly” Back In The “Friendly Skies”
Are Airlines Becoming More Family Friendly?