Oops: Pilots Overshoot Runway by 359 Miles

"Plane overshoots Mumbai as both pilots go to sleep"
Times of India (June 26, 2008)

"MUMBAI: An Air India Jaipur-Mumbai flight flew well past its destination with both its pilots fatigued and fast asleep in the cockpit. When the pilots were finally woken up by anxious Mumbai air traffic controllers, the plane was about half way to Goa.

"This nap in the sky took place about a fortnight ago on the domestic leg of a Dubai-Jaipur-Mumbai flight — IC 612 — which had about 100 passengers on board. 'The plane took off from Dubai at 1.35am IST and then from Jaipur at 7am. After operating an overnight flight, fatigue levels peak, and so the pilots dozed off after taking off from Jaipur,' said a source...."

"...Every aircraft has its own exclusive code. When the ATC uses this high frequency communication system — which it does very rarely and only when other communication draws a blank — a buzzer sounds in the cockpit. Jolted by the sound of the SELCAL buzzer, the pilots woke up and brought the plane back to Mumbai safely...."

Mumbai aerodrome's general manager said that what we've got here is failure to communicate. (Sound familiar? It should, if you follow American movies.)

I say, thank God for redundant systems. And alert traffic controllers.

More, at "Report: Sleeping Pilots Overshot Airport by 359 Miles" FOXNews (June 26, 2008).