• Ethiopian Airlines suspends two pilots after they reportedly fell asleep.
• The incident occurred during a flight from Khartoum to Addis Ababa on Monday.
• The plane overshot the runway but landed safely.

Ethiopian Airlines, the largest airline in Africa, announced that two of its pilots have been suspended after they allegedly dozed off. And missed their landing on a trip from Khartoum to Addis Abeba. According to flight-tracking website FlightAware, the aircraft Monday overshot the runway at Bole International Airport in the capital of Ethiopia before safely touching down.

The Aviation Herald, an independent website, said that the pilots slept off during the flight. And were only roused by an alarm sent off when the autopilot mode was unplugged.

25 minutes after takeoff, the plane circled back to land, according to flight data.

Flight ET343 temporarily lost contact with air traffic control, according to Ethiopian Airlines. Which reported that the aircraft landed safely once it regained contact.

The airline issued a statement in which it claimed, “The concerned crew have been withdrawn from operation pending further inquiry”. Without specifying if the pilots had been dozing off.

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According to the findings of the investigation, appropriate corrective action will be implemented, it was said.

Usually, it takes less than two hours to fly between the two capitals.

Alex Macheras, an aviation analyst based in London, called the incident “very disturbing” and attributed it to widespread weariness. Which is a serious threat to aviation safety. He wrote on Twitter that “pilot tiredness is nothing new. And it continues to represent one of the most important risks to air safety – internationally.”

All 157 persons aboard an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX that crashed into a field southeast of Addis Abeba in March 2019 six minutes after takeoff were killed.

The catastrophe, which occurred five months after a comparable crash in Indonesia. This led to the jet being grounded worldwide for 20 months until it was allowed to resume operations in late 2020.

100% state-owned Ethiopian Airlines reported $3.51 billion in revenue for the fiscal year 2020–2021.

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