Trainee pilot sacked for dozing off for 55 min as plane flew by itself

May 29, 2011 |

Melbourne

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A trainee pilot was suspended from flying after an incident in which he blacked out for 55 minutes and overshot the Parafield airport, heading out to the Great Australian Bight.

A report by the Transport Safety Bureau revealed that the pilot woke up after 55 minutes of unconsciousness not knowing about his position as his plane flew itself for 250km to Adelaide.

The Middle Eastern man, who studied with Flight Training Adelaide for a year on an Emirates Airlines scholarship, has returned home after the incident ended his career.

Despite continuous attempts by the air traffic control to contact him by radio, the pilot did not answer.

"The plane would have kept going until it ran out of fuel if he hadn't regained consciousness," News.com.au quoted bureau spokesman Dan O'Malley as saying.

He added that the single-engine Tobago plane had enough fuel to fly for another 60 minutes and would have then ditched into the sea.

The pilot later narrated his ‘scary experience’ when he came to, saying: "I looked up and didn't know where I was."

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