Two airline pilots have confessed to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to being asleep in the cockpit at the same time during a long-haul flight into the UK leaving the A330 to fly on autopilot. The pair, which are reported to have fallen asleep within two hours of takeoff, are alleged to have agreed to take turns to sleep 20-minute each during the journey on August 13.
The pilots blamed taking longer shifts over the peak holiday season, which resulted in them only having up to five hours’ sleep in 36 hours.
The UK carrier has not been named by the CAA.
A CAA spokesman said: "We take fatigue-related incidents extremely seriously.