Both Pilots Fall Asleep On Batik Air Airbus A320 For 28 Minutes

One question & one observation.
Question: Have you ever had the chance to sit in the flight deck of a commercial airliner during a flight? (I ask because I have, and up there, it can be so quiet and so relaxing that your brain cannot stay awake sometimes - Mind you, at that point I get my butt up and get a soda or something).

Observation: The 787 has an alarm feature that basically goes from an on screen notification to a chime to an alarm over the period of about twenty minutes to prevent pilots from falling asleep. I am surprised that Airbus doesn't have an automatic feature like that.

Hopefully they woke up well-rested, and ready to pilot their next flight.

Pilots should never be working when not fully rested, the chances of something going wrong increase multi fold when someone is fatigued. And a nap is not enough

Matthew should take the pilots to his favorite coffee place in Indonesia.

How were they found out?

Wondering that, too.

"Furthermore, the first officer had one-month-old twin babies at home"

poor guy lol

Batik Air, never a particularly confidence inspiring carrier, would really make me question my life choices if I seated in one of their flights above the Java Sea.

Especially when his wife won't tell him who the father really is.

I want forget the name of this airline

Indonesia really punches above its weight when it comes to aviation accidents and safety mishaps!

I think this just goes to show how much the planes fly themselves - literally no human intervened in this flight for 30 minutes.

Many years ago I was working at the Phoenix TRACON. We got a call from Albuquerque Center asking us if we were talking to AA123 who was passing over our airspace. We said no and the Center Controller replied “Nobody has talked to him for the last five hundred miles”.

Anyone else thinking they were up to something other than sleeping? Maybe a FA sipped in.

I wouldn’t fly an Indonesian carrier if my life depended upon it. They simply never learn.

Ben, you come off being compassionate to the pilots' situation. Thinking you are relating as a father, not as a passenger.

I thought the commercial crew was supposed to check on the pilots every 20mn or so, to prevent that kind of issue.
Anyway I m more shocked by the pilots lying to air control, than them falling asleep.

I expect they follow-up on com problems and if there is no technical issue they question the pilots.

Given the incredible number of flights operating in Indonesia, a country comparable to the US in terms of extent (and population) flying there is surprisingly safe.

The last big incident I recall was the crash of Lion Air 610, a 737 MAX, which was on Boing, not the airline.

I love visiting Indonesia (I have flown Garuda several times), but the aviation safety there sadly keeps me from visiting some of my dream destinations (Sumba, Borobudur).

I m happily flying Back Air in 3 days, no problem.

I flew Military for 5 years and Commercial for 31 friggin' years and NEVER fell asleep while flying - this same thing happened in the US and the pilots "got off" scott free - both should be sitting in jail !!!!!

I disagree with your comment where you refer to pilots should be in jail. Add alarms that can't be disabled to wake them if there is no activity for five minutes or require attendants to spend time in the flight deck when they're done with passengers.
My understanding is they were fired and their FAA credentials revoked. I find that excessive as well.

They succumbed to a biological rhythm. Although questionable, it's not a s crime.

Unsure why this behavior couldn't be treated like other cockpit resource management issues with added training, refreshers, behavior management strategies, accountability (cameras in the cockpit, a game changer for law enforcement), and graduated consequences. Something like this and distracted flying is a reality of their work conditions that likely happens on a not-infrequent basis (non-unlike distracted driving although with considerably higher stakes). With infants at home - who sleeps through the night? Give them support and other measures.

And the lying?

I can't believe there isn't a simple alarm feature in the cockpit that requires you to press something to turn it off? Seems like a simple way to prevent such incidents

Really? Are you serious ? For real? Should have known a comment like yours was long overdue... Now the only thing missing is a MTG comment from the gallery regarding the effects of a MAGA infection.

that's nice, but why should this be anyone else's problem?