A plane was left with no one in control when the pilot fell asleep and the co-pilot was locked out.
An investigation is being held after a Dutch airline Transavia Boeing 737 was left with no one in control during a flight to Crete in September, the Daily Mail reports.
The co-pilot of the plane left the cockpit to use the bathroom. When he tried to get back into the cockpit, it was locked and the pilot would not respond to his intercom announcements.
The co-pilot was eventually able to get into the cockpit and he was shocked to find the pilot asleep.
The incident was just made public on Wednesday by the Dutch safety board (OVV)
"After two and a half hours in the air the captain of the Dutch-registered plane left the cockpit to go to the toilet,' the OVV said in a report, according to the Daily Mail.
"A little later he wanted to return to the cockpit. When he used the intercom to call the first officer to open the door he got no reaction. When he managed to get into the cockpit, he found the first officer asleep," the report said.
New rules were imposed by the EU which increased flying hours in September. With the new rules, some pilots are landing planes after being awake for 22 hours and flying for 11 hours.
Being awake for that long increased fatigue to levels equivalent to being intoxicated.
UK pilots are allowed to go up to 18 hours without sleep. Four out of ten pilots have reported that they fell asleep during flight and a third of co-pilots fall asleep.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
