Radio contact with an Italian passenger plane broke off for a few minutes over France. The pilot later reports technical problems. However, the airline suspects another reason – and fires the man.
A long-haul flight from New York to Rome caused a stir in Italy and cost the pilot his job. The captain is accused of falling asleep while flying over France in the early morning of May 1 and not being available – he denies it. The airline Ita Airways – successor to Alitalia – fired the man as a result of the incident. Ita confirmed this on request, but pointed out “clearly and rigorously” that the passengers were never in danger.
Flight control in Marseille was no longer able to radio the Airbus A330 early in the morning. In the worst case, this happens when a plane is hijacked, for example by terrorists. According to the newspaper “La Repubblica”, which first reported on the incident at the weekend, the French then sent out two fighter jets. After a few minutes, however, the pilots on board the Ita machine reported back and flew on to Rome without any problems.
The captain stated that a technical defect was the reason for the interruption of the radio connection – according to Ita, however, this refuted an examination of the machine. In principle, pilots can take a sleep break on long flights – if it is ensured that the other pilot is awake and available. The airline separated from the pilot because of his behavior on board and because they saw the relationship of trust irreparably damaged. There are no known disciplinary proceedings against the second pilot, who according to the report had reportedly reported his sleep break in accordance with the rules.
