There can be a number of reasons why planes need to go into holding patterns before landing. It could be weather-related, issues on the ground, or just a big queue of arriving aircraft.
But pilots on a recent Air Corsica flight encountered a new one – the air traffic controller had fallen asleep.
On Monday, flight XK777 from Paris to Corsica took off nearly an hour late at 10.46pm (local time).
As the Airbus A320 approached Ajaccio, the pilots contacted the air traffic controller, but there was no response. They could also see that the runway lights at Napoleon Bonaparte Airport were switched off.
Repeated calls were not answered so the pilots circled as they contacted the airport’s fire service, who also reported the situation to the local police.
Before the decision to fly to a different airport was made, the runway lights sparked into life, as did the sleepy air traffic controller.
The flight had been in a holding pattern for around 20 minutes. One passenger told local paper Corse-Matin that everyone on board stayed calm and joked: “We did a little sightseeing. At no point was there any panic.”
The captain reportedly said: “In my decades of experience, I’ve never had to deal with a situation like this.”
The air traffic controller was questioned by authorities but was said to be in “good health”.
France’s civil aviation authority confirmed to AFP: “The intervention of the airport fire department at the control tower revealed that the air traffic controller on duty had fallen asleep at his post.”
There have been instances when it is the pilots who need a caffeine hit.
In 2024, an investigation was launched after both pilots on a Batik Air flight in Indonesia reportedly fell asleep at the same time. It’s alleged the two pilots were asleep for 28 minutes which meant the aircraft was “not in the correct flight path”.
In 2022, two Ethiopian Airlines pilots nodded off and missed their landing, according to Aviation Herald.
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