Both Pilots Fell Asleep on Airbus A320 Carrying 153 Passengers: Cockpit Silent for 28 Minutes

An analysis published by ScienceBlog on August 21 revisited an incident involving Batik Air flight BTK6723 from Kendari to Jakarta on January 25, 2024. According to the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee’s final report dated January 8, 2025, there were 153 passengers and four cabin crew members on board.

After the aircraft reached its cruising altitude of 36,000 feet, the captain began resting with the first officer’s consent. The captain later briefly woke up before falling asleep again. The first officer, who was maintaining a heading of 250 degrees to avoid adverse weather, also unintentionally fell asleep. Jakarta air traffic control called the aircraft 14 times and asked crews of two other aircraft to establish contact, but received no response from the cockpit. A total of 28 minutes elapsed between the last radio transmission and the captain re-establishing communication.

When the captain woke up, he realised that the aircraft was no longer on the correct flight path and that the first officer was asleep. The crew corrected the route and landed safely at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Although the captain told air traffic control that the aircraft had experienced a radio communication problem, investigators found no fault with the system.

The report noted that the first officer had experienced interrupted sleep before the flight due to caring for one-month-old twins and preparations for moving house. Deficiencies in fatigue management and periodic cockpit monitoring were identified among the factors that contributed to the incident.