A pilot for Italy's ITA Airways allegedly took a snooze during a transatlantic flight, scaring air traffic controllers who feared the worst and nearly triggering an international incident.
In a wild story published by the British paper the Daily Star, both the captain of Flight AZ609 from New York to Rome and the co-pilot took a nap during what is known as a "controlled rest period" when the plane is on autopilot.
But ground control officials could not reach either man for 10 minutes, sparking fears of a terrorist threat or a mechanical issue during the April 30 flight.
Concerned that no one in the cockpit was responding, air traffic controllers in France warned their counterparts in Italy that something was wrong. Italian authorities then tried to reach the pilots by cell phone and then by the aviation satellite communications system known as ACARS, which is used to transmit short messages.
With still no response, French authorities then made the decision to scramble two French fighter jets to fly to the plane's location and surveil the cockpit for any improprieties.
Before that could happen, one of the two pilots responded to the repeated requests for communications.
The captain, whom the newspaper reported was fired by ITA, denied that he was sleeping and told authorities that a faulty system in the plane caused the communications blackout. An internal investigation by authorities after the incident found so such problems.
The plane landed safely in Rome, 20 minutes ahead of schedule.
ITA spokesman Davide D'Amico issued a statement saying that passengers were never in danger and that putting the plane on autopilot was routine during certain segments of the flight.
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