Blamed Situation On Longer Shifts, Lack Of Sleep

Both pilots aboard what was described as a fully-loaded A330 on a long-haul flight August 13th admitted to napping in the cockpit at the same time.

The pilots had agreed to take turns catching 20 minute naps during the flight, which authorities have declined to identify, according to a report in the U.K. newspaper The Telegraph. But the pilots have admitted to the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority that they both fell asleep at the same time about two hours after the plane took off.

The pilots said it was because of longer shifts assigned during the summer holiday season. They said they had slept about five hours out of the 36 preceding the flight in question.

The CAA would not identify either the carrier or the flight’s departure or destination airports.

A spokesman for the CAA said "we take fatigue-related incidents extremely seriously."

The European Parliament is considering changes in aviation rules that the British Airline Pilots Association says will mean pilots could be awake for as long as 22 hours straight when standby hours are counted.

FMI: www.caa.co.uk