The incident took place on an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 en route from Khartoum to Addis Ababa, the report said, “when the pilots fell asleep” and “the aircraft continued at the top of the descent”.
Data obtained from the website shows the aircraft was traveling at 37,000 feet on autopilot when it failed to land at Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport, its scheduled destination, on August 15.
Air traffic control was apparently unable to reach the crew despite several contact attempts.  However, an alarm was raised when the plane overshot the runway and continued on its way.
The aircraft then began its descent, landing safely about 25 minutes later.
Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data shows the aircraft flying over the runway, before beginning its descent and maneuvering for another approach.
“We have received a report that Ethiopian flight number ET343 en route from Khartoum to Addis Ababa temporarily lost communication with Addis Ababa Air Traffic Controller on August 15, 2022,” Ethiopian said in a statement issued on Friday Airlines.
“The flight later landed safely after communication was restored. The crew involved were removed from the operation pending further investigation.
“Appropriate corrective action will be taken based on the outcome of the investigation. Safety has always been and will continue to be our first priority,” the statement said.


“Deeply disturbing” 
Aviation analyst Alex Maheras has since taken to Twitter to express his surprise at the “deeply disturbing incident”, which he says may have been the result of pilot burnout.
“Pilot fatigue is nothing new and continues to be one of the most significant threats to aviation safety — internationally,” he tweeted Thursday.
The report comes just months after pilots at Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines warned airline executives that pilot burnout was on the rise and urged them to address fatigue and the resulting mistakes as a safety hazard.
“Fatigue, both acute and cumulative, has become the number one safety threat at Southwest Airlines,” the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, or SWAPA, said in a letter to airline executives in April.
According to the letter, increasing demand for air travel as the industry begins to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and cancellation chaos caused by severe weather were among the reasons for the increase in pilot burnout.
In May, Italian newspaper Repubblica reported that an ITA pilot was fired after he “fell asleep” during a flight between New York and Rome.
The co-pilot was said to be taking an “authorized rest” at the time, causing the Airbus A330 to lose communication with air traffic control for ten minutes, according to the report.