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Ever miss your exit and have to drive for miles before you could turn around? Well imagine doing that, but hundreds of feet in the air.
That's what happened to an Australian pilot who overshot his destination by over 28 miles, because he fell asleep in the cockpit. Fortunately, he woke up in time to turn around and land his cargo plane safely.
The Piper PA-31, VH-TWU flight, operated by Vortex Air can carry up to 9 passengers, and was on course to land at King Island Airport. The pilot has been interviewed by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), and the investigation made the following assessment:
"...pilots started duty at 05:40 a.m. This likely caused the pilots to receive less daily sleep than is needed to sustain optimal alertness and resulted in an accumulation of sleep debt and increased levels of daytime fatigue."
Sounds like "he was tired" it was they were shooting for in the explanation.
Read more over at Newsweek.