The captain of the plane has since been fired.
A pilot has been fired after allegedly falling asleep while in charge of manning an international flight heading from New York to Rome as his co-pilot took his designated sleeping break, according to reports. The April flight was allegedly left unmanned for 10 minutes as both the pilot meant to be awake and the pilot allowed to be asleep dozed off, Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported.
Flight AZ609, which took off on April 30 on Italy’s new state-run air carrier, ITA, was flying 38,000-feet over France when the pilot meant to be awake fell asleep, according to ABC 7.
The situation came to light after air traffic controllers told investigators they lost contact with the plane for about 10 minutes, according to reports.
Air Traffic Control feared of a terror incident had occurred and as they prepared fighter jets to intercept the plane, the pilots responded to their calls, ABC 7 reported.
In a statement, ITA Airways said the captain claimed the radios stopped working, but investigators found "strong inconsistencies between the statements made by the captain and the outcome of the internal investigation."
The pilot denied he fell asleep.
The Italian airline said the captain's behavior "was not consistent with the rules dictated by the company."
The plane landed safely in Rome and did not lose altitude or go off its intended route at any point in time, flight data obtained by The Independent showed.
ITA took the skies for the first time in October 2021, replacing long-standing Italian national airline Alitalia after 74 years. Alitalia had been hit by financial issues in recent years and folded last year.
