Incident: Ethiopian B738 at Addis Ababa on Aug 15th 2022, pilots asleep

Reader Comments: (the comments posted below do not reflect the view of The Aviation Herald but represent the view of the various posters)

@ Mister smart
By Smoot on Monday, Aug 29th 2022 17:27Z

"Good job the MCAS didn�t act up in on them when they were sleeping!!!!"

Yeah, REALLY good - especially since it is not even installed on this model 737...go back under your bridge troll...do NOT come back out from underneath!

Wow.
By Seb on Thursday, Aug 25th 2022 18:11Z

Wow. You might think that something like this only happens in the Microsoft flight simulator. This is real life. Scary.

By (anonymous) on Thursday, Aug 25th 2022 11:34Z

Another fast food is about to open in Ethiopia after the Emirate�s event

life improvement
By FSPoul on Wednesday, Aug 24th 2022 07:17Z

I think the autopilot disconnect wailer sound will be my new alarm clock sound!

FDR, CVR DATA vs Speculation
By Truth Seeker on Tuesday, Aug 23rd 2022 14:54Z

Let�s see the data release that explains what actually happened.

It is hard to believe that in the 2!st Century we still are worried about the TRUTH as opposed to machismo or the inability to believe what might have REALLY happened because it is culturally unacceptable.

Consequently when there absolute deniers of. What is Feasible vs Highly Improbable as reflected in all the technical failures that must have occurred and then magically fixed on the ground, one cannot reason with ignorance based on denial. A lack of intellect can be accommodated, but inculcated Ignorance should be seen as a deliberate act to avoid the truth and reality of events as a face saving measure.

This is how Censorship evolves. This is how Facism rises. �Alternative Facts� replace an inconvenient Truth. Ignorance replaces Intellect.

@I know what happened
By Hans R. on Tuesday, Aug 23rd 2022 12:07Z

Just typing it and there you have the proof between my previous two comments.

@I know what happened: About being "funny"
By Hans R. on Tuesday, Aug 23rd 2022 12:04Z

You have to have the same concept = at least a similar cultural background of fun to be identified as making fun!

I think I know that you�re sarcastic. BUT for somebody who has the cultural concept that everything negative stated in public about somebody (= sleeping during worktime) is personally related = an insult = for him, his family, his people, will never accept ANY public statement that there was done something wrong, allthough the evidence might be as clear as it could be. They will read and understand your comment as serious. In this case as serious support.

Such things are huge possibilities for dangerous cultural misunderstandings.

" Pilots sleeping"
By Lijalem Samuel on Tuesday, Aug 23rd 2022 11:57Z

This is nonsense and Illogical! How could two pilots go to sleep at the same time? If so, there must be some kind of health problem with the pilots.

Being "funny"
By Hans R. on Tuesday, Aug 23rd 2022 11:42Z

It�s difficult to be "funny" in the digital world - on this website people are posting with very different cultural backgrounds and very different concepts of "fun".

I still read Mister Smarts contribution here in the way: "Luckily the MCAS at this 737 hasn�t become active as it became active at that other 737 from Ethiopian Airlines back in 2019. Good Job from Boeing to have fixed that problem, it saved many lifes here." No sarcasm, no fun.

I don�t know if "I know what happened" is making fun. We saw a lot of comments, probably with an African background, who interpreted Simon�s report as an insult against the Ethiopian People, not as stating a technical matter. They all stated that many other reasons for the behaviour of the aircraft would be thinkable. Why not two Pilots with medical issues?

And there�re a lot of countries where you can be arrested when you�re posting something in the internet which the Government doesn�t enjoy.

@an old pilot
By Smart flyer on Tuesday, Aug 23rd 2022 08:06Z

� get yourself a good lawyer�
LOL! you going to call the internet police to come arrest him and he�ll face a Lee suit !
You make me laugh

@ i know what happened
By an old pilot on Tuesday, Aug 23rd 2022 03:30Z

Really .... i dont think so.... both crew in the lav at once...oh you make ke laugh. and passengers had to kick down cockpit door. not possible since 911. get yourself a good lawyer...

Technical Faults, NOT Pilots Asleep
By 727driver on Tuesday, Aug 23rd 2022 03:24Z

LOL :):):)

Technical Faults, NOT Pilots Asleep
By I know what happened on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 21:44Z

There were massive systems failures that prevented Pilot manual intervention to fly normal arrival:

Altitude Selector stuck
VNAV button stuck
FLCH switch stuck
LNAV switch stuck
Heading Sel knob stuck
Vertical Speed wheel stuck
Speed knob stuck
Auto Pilots switches stuck
Control wheel A/P disconnect buttons stuck

ENTIRE MCP INOP

Both Throttles inop
Autothrottles, servos Inop
All Radios inop
Dual CDUs inop
FMC Inop
Transponder mode stuck - no changes possible

Both Pilots locked out of cockpit in toilets until Passengers kicked in cock[it door.

NO sleeping.

Miracle Airplane Mechanics fixed in 2 Hours!!

Kidus Yeshiwas
By Stop Pretending on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 21:09Z

If the crew had flown more than this sector that night, it�s very likely they were asleep due to fatigue and body clock issues. They are NOtT vampires who only are up at night and sleep well in daytime.

Are you a Pilot? Have you ever flown all night? Have you woken up at midnight to go to the Airport at 1:30AM, briefed, flight planned, walk around, prepared the cockpit , and then take on a 2 hour flight? Do you have any idea just how tired your mind can be? Are you as alert at 5AM as you are at 5pm?

NOBODY IS BLAMING THE PILOTS because they were lazy, or bad aviators.

We ARE raising concerns about sufficient rest to keep them AND THE PASSENGERS SAFE.

Stop acting as if this is all a conspiracy.

What if the aircraft had run out of fuel, crashed, killed everyone and the investigation showed they were incapacitated due to fatigue?

Is that OK?

By Lee on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 20:56Z

Whats really sad is how many people like 'mister smart' were probably trying to be funny/sarcastic, but have NO CLUE about using the /sarcasm or /s tag when doing this.

@Mister smart
By Hans R. on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 20:55Z

It�s embarrassing that there�s obviously the need to state on a professional website THAT A 737-800 DOES NOT HAVE MCAS!!!

Fatigue
By Mandupui on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 18:08Z

If you check the A/C Schedule , you can see that airplane made two red-eye flights, starting at 22:00 LT and finish around 6:00 am.
Wonder if the crew made both flights? Fatigue and no programed rest policy on ET? maybe.

Sleeping might not be the issue
By Kidus Yeshiwas on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 17:22Z

Even if saying that the pilots were asleep might be the most logical answer but still it�s not very convincing. How can a pilot just sleep in this short haul flight? And is there a real reason you said that?

Mcas
By Mister smart on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 16:25Z

Good job the MCAS didn�t act up in on them when they were sleeping!!!!

How did you know they fell sleep?
By 727driver on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 14:44Z

Technical failure?

What type of failure you are thinking about?
Why no comm with ATC, Maintenance?

How did you know they fell sleep?
By Bahritu on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 12:05Z

How did you verify that the pilots fell asleep? what if there were some technical failure? Anyway we wait for further investigation.

@anon
By LA on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 11:32Z

Got it, it was AirBerlin 9721. Thanks to both of you.

@LA
By 727driver on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 11:21Z

It's on this site

"Incident: Air Berlin A332 at Munich on May 5th 2012, tired crew declared PAN"

Crew Alertness Monitor
By Brutus on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 10:24Z

There is in fact such a device that monitors crew alertness.
It exists on the Boeing 777 and is a function if the FMC.
�The FMC continuously monitors switch action on the MCP, EFIS control panel, display select panel, CDUs, and radio transmitter microphone switches. When a predefined time elapses after the last switch action was detected, the EICAS alert message PILOT RESPONSE is displayed.�
EICAS alerts include an audio alert. I cannot speak about 767, but earlier models like the 737 do not have this function AFAIK.

In many airlines Cabin Crew are under instructions to check every 20 or 30 minutes on their cockpit crew.

Many airlines have also a �Controlled Rest on the Flight Deck� policy that is approved by their respective regulatory authority. There are strict rules when and how it can be applied.

@LA crew fatigue
By (anonymous) on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 09:55Z

I believe it was an Air Berlin Flight from PMI to MUC. You can read about it in the May 2012 BFU Bulletin.

@Ahmed
By La on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 08:29Z

Do you have a flight number for the german flight? I'd love to read more about that.

...
By Ahmed on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 07:39Z

first of all check the roster of both pilots... both fell asleep, consider, that they were flying several legs together and that the architecture of the schedule could have led to it...
I remember a german airline, where the pilots declared emergency on approach due to fatigue...
I know, that pilots often conduct autolands at the end of a day due to fatigue.
The attitude, that humans are brought to their limits is everywhere and does not stop in aviation.

As a patient of me once told : You know what, today the human is not fast/good/strong enough for work anymore...

Ahmed

Sleep
By PTC Bernie on Monday, Aug 22nd 2022 01:20Z

Not that it�s an excuse, but the departure time was a bit after 03:00 in the morning.

If you�re already sleep deprived a boring flight over dark territory can be a problem waiting to happen.

So many armchair pilots
By The cynic on Sunday, Aug 21st 2022 19:15Z

This site is just full of armchair pilots and busy bodies. Go bang yer missus gents

@Tadios
By 727driver on Sunday, Aug 21st 2022 18:30Z

What are you talking about?
Did you read this?

On Aug 20th 2022 the airline confirmed the incident advising that both pilots have been suspended pending further investigation. Appropriate action will be taken based on the outcome of the investigation.

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