The National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) of Indonesia recently published a report detailing an alarming incident involving the captain and copilot of a domestic flight carrying 153 passengers. The incident took place on a Batik Air Airbus A320 aircraft during a return flight from Kendari to Jakarta in January.
According to the report, the 32-year-old captain took a nap with the copilot's permission while the plane was cruising at 36,000 feet. After waking up and offering the copilot a rest, the captain fell back asleep. Subsequently, the copilot also unintentionally fell asleep, leaving the first officer to handle communications with air traffic controllers and flight attendants for about 20 minutes.
