Trainee pilot fell asleep during solo flight

A plane flew into controlled airspace as a sleep-deprived trainee pilot slept for 40 minutes.

Flight Training Adelaide aircraft on the ground at Parafield Airport. Picture: Brenton Edwards/AAP

An Adelaide flight training school has introduced new measures to ensure students are alert enough to fly, after a trainee pilot nodded off for 40 minutes during a solo navigation flight. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has published an occurrence brief on the incident, which happened on March 9 during a flight from Port Augusta to Parafield Airport in South Australia.

The report revealed the pilot was recovering from a cold and had not slept well the night before the flight, nor eaten breakfast.

About 40 minutes into the flight on a single-engine Diamond DA40, the pilot reported that his head started to ache, and he engaged the autopilot at an altitude of 5500 feet.

Shortly after he became unconscious — apparently as a result of falling asleep — and about 30-minutes later the aircraft breached controlled airspace at Adelaide Airport.

Air traffic controllers tried repeatedly to contact the pilot unsuccessfully, and were given assistance by the crew of a Diamond DA42.

About 10 minutes later, the crew made visual contact with the DA40 and reported the pilot was now awake. By this time, the aircraft was over water, 46km south-south-west of Adelaide.

Radio contact was established and ATC assisted the pilot in returning safely to Parafield, under escort from the DA42.

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As a result of the incident, classified as “serious” by the ATSB, Flight Training Adelaide undertook a number of safety actions.

These included requiring students to include in their flight authorisation form, their hours of sleep in the previous 24 to 48 hours, the time of their last meal, and what was eaten.

The training school also undertook to conduct a safety briefing to re-emphasise the importance of observing company guidelines and the responsibilities of the pilot in command, with more emphasis on fatigue management.

Flight Training Adelaide declined to comment on the report, when contacted by The Australian.

The ATSB is currently investigating another incident of a pilot nodding off at the controls, and overshooting his destination by 46km.

The pilot was alone in the Piper-31 Navajo Chieftan when he fell asleep on a freight flight from Devonport in Tasmania to King Island, on November 8 last year.