[Peetwo]

Ironsider follow up to snoozing pilot incident - 

via the Oz today:

Pilot fell asleep at wheel
ROBYN IRONSIDE
Two investigations are under way into a freight flight that overflew its destination because the pilot was asleep

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Freight pilot’s 40 winks propels two safety investigations

Two investigations are under way into a freight flight that overflew its destination by almost 50km because the pilot was asleep.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is investigating the fatigu­e management practices of flight operator Vortex Air.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is also investigat­ing the incident, which it classified as “pilot incapacitation”.

The flight left Devonport in Tasmania at 6.20am on November 8, to make the 250km trip to King Island. It was the first flight of the day for the Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain, which can carry up to 700kg of freight.

The Australian understands the pilot reported for duty despite having had little or no sleep the prev­ious night due to a personal crisis. He was the only person on board and, according to the ATSB investigation summary, fell asleep during the cruise part of the one-hour flight.

It’s thought a radio call may have woken him after the aircraft overflew King Island Airport by 46km. The Piper landed safely just after 7.20am, then went on to do six further flights that day.

The ATSB investigation was launched in response to “addit­ion­al information” received by the bureau in the past week but a spokesman was unable to provide any further details.

As part of the investigation, the pilot would be interviewed and operational procedures reviewed, the ATSB summary said.

A CASA spokesman said its investigation would focus on the fatigue risk-management practices of Vortex Air to ensure it met Australian standards.

Vortex managing director Colin Tucker refused to comment yesterday on the incident.

Devonport Airport general manager Dave Race said Vortex Air was a reputable and safe operator that conducted regular flights, carrying freight and passengers to King Island, which boasts three golf courses.

King Island Council Mayor David Munday also described Vortex as a “professional” airline.

Research undertaken by the ATSB on pilot incapacitation incide­nts in Australia between 2010 and 2014 found they were rare in the general aviation sector.

There are only two reported cases of pilots falling asleep on the job. In one case, the pilot of a Cessna 210 Centurion awoke to find he had entered controlled airspace twice without clearance while flying from Port Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast to Bankstown in Sydney. In the second, a passenger awoke the pilot of a Gippsland GA-8 who nodded off doing locust spotting over farmland in Ardlethan, NSW.

MTF...P2