Daily Times

Two pilots with Africa’s largest airline reportedly fell asleep at the controls and missed their window to land while flying into Ethiopia’s capital.

The Boeing 737-80 was en route to Ethiopia from Sudan on Monday when the pilots dozed off, causing the aircraft to fly past the runway at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.

Air traffic control tried to contact the crew multiple times but could not reach anyone.

According to the reports, an alarm sounded in the plane waking the sleeping pilots.

The pilots safely landed the plane about 25 minutes later.

Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest airline, did not confirm that the pilots fell asleep but said it received a report about a flight temporarily losing communication with air traffic control.

In a statement (Aug. 20), the company said the crew members involved had been suspended pending a further investigation.

“Appropriate corrective action will be taken based on the outcome of the investigation,” the airline said.