Now these were unethical pilots:
Evoking a memorable scene in “National Lampoon’sVacation” but in a passenger jet instead of a station wagon, the pilot and co-pilot of Batik Air flight en-route to Jakarta fell asleep in the cockpit of their Airbus A320 for 28 minutes. The 153 passengers and four flight attendants on board did not know that no one was flying the plane. A preliminary report by Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee explained why the plane drifted off its designated flight path during the January 25 incident, and it sounds like a version of “Airplane!”
The pilot and co-pilot eventually woke up in time to land the plane after a flight lasting two hours and 35 minutes from South East Sulawesi. Nobody was injured. The two pilots were “strongly reprimanded” and suspended. The transport ministry says it will be reviewing its fatigue risk management policies and compliance by all airlines.
That seems wise. One of the pilots had not rested sufficiently before the flight according to the investigation, so he asked his co-pilot if he could nap for a while as his co-pilot took the controls. Sure! said the co-pilot. “Sweet dreams!” However, the co-pilot also fell asleep, leaving both of then snoring away. He was exhausted because he and his wife were caring for one-month-old twin babies at home. Fortunately the pilot was awakened as air traffic control asked loudly over the radio why the plane was wandering off course.
Ethics Alarms 
At Least They Weren’t Flying A Boeing 737 Max…
I know the title isn’t the topic of the post, but both those 737 Max crews crashed perfectly flyable airplanes. When an airliner starts misbehaving, there are three things to do that will return the airplane to manual control: Autopilot – Disconnect; Autothrust – Off; Primary Pitch Trim – Aux.
That’s it. Takes less time to do than type.
The transport ministry says it will be reviewing its fatigue risk management policies and compliance by all airlines.
Fatigue management is a serious issue. Among US airlines, at least, calling in fatigued is a punishment-free way to deal with sleep issues on a trip. On the face of it, sounds like the First Officer made the ethical mistake of betting his sleep pattern with loss of pay. He should have called in sick due to fatigue before the trip started.
sounds like the First Officer made the ethical mistake of betting his sleep pattern with loss of pay. He should have called in sick due to fatigue before the trip started.
Yup. Sounds like that to me, too.
Crazy story. When one learns to fly there are acronyms one learns. IMSAFE is one of those as is PAVE.
Illness
Medication
Stress
Alcohol
Fatigue
Emotion
PAVE is pilot, aircraft, environment and external pressure.
You do this self assessment each and every time you fly. It’s important in VFR flying. Critical in IMC. Are you ill? Taking any medication specifically pain meds? what is your stress level? Alcohol? 8 hrs bottle to throttle (it’s longer for women because alcohol stays in the system longer). How tired or alert are you? Where are you on an emotional level? Same self assessment for pave. If you check any of them off that makes you unsafe You Don’t Fly. You do this whether you are PIC or copilot.
I flew for 10 years. Did this self assessment every time I flew. Did the preflight checklist by looking and following the list not just from memory. The mantra- live to fly another day. Long flights can be boring especially when you are on autopilot. Yet this flight was pretty short. I’m not sure how they drifted off course. They should have been on autopilot. The heaviest workload’s are takeoffs and landings. Middle part unless hard imc is pretty easy. Autopilot keeps your heading, altitude, maintains speed, climb and descent, trim and can almost land the plane. It can take you all the way to the runway threshold if you’ve loaded the instrument landing. If there autopilot wasn’t on or working then they had an aircraft issue that should have been taken care of. Difficult to give them a pass when they violated basic piloting rules.
Two excellent comments in your debut! Where have you been??
Jack,
Thank you kindly for the compliment. It is indeed high praise coming from you.
I read EthicsAlarms everyday. I look forward to seeing it in my inbox. It’s one of those rare blogs one actually learns from. I read all the comments they are well thought out, articulate, unbiased, informative and factual The majority of the time someone has already written what I would have said and have stated it in a more eloquent and knowledgeable way. I would find myself writing ditto… often yet know that adds very little value.
Jack,
Thank you kindly for the compliment. It is indeed high praise coming from you.
I read EthicsAlarms everyday. I look forward to seeing it in my inbox. It’s one of those rare blogs one actually learns from. I read all the comments they are well thought out, articulate, unbiased, informative and factual The majority of the time someone has already written what I would have said and have stated it in a more eloquent and knowledgeable way. I would find myself writing ditto… often yet know that adds very little value.
”Odor of mendacity” love me some Tennessee Williams in judicial documents.