The French authorities were alerted on the night between 30 April and 1 May, when Ita Airways flight AZ609 from New York to Rome failed to contact a control tower as it passed over the country.
When the flight arrived over southern France, the radar center in Marseille tried to contact the aircraft, but received no response for at least 10 minutes.
The development prompted the mobilisation of two French fighter jets in fear of a terrorist act to escort the aircraft just in case.
Alert cancelled
After a few hours there was finally a response from the aircraft, resulting in the alert being cancelled.
The flight arrived in Rome as normal, with passengers noting nothing unusual, and indeed without delay.
According to reports, Ita launched an investigation into the incident, during which the captain claimed that there was a failure in the communication systems However, and according to checks carried out on the aircraft, the system was functioning normally, and instead it appears that for a short time both pilots were asleep and the aircraft was flying on autopilot.
As is customary on these routes, one of the two pilots may sleep for a few minutes and just before starting the descent to the destination, provided of course that the other pilot remains awake.
According to the Italian airline, the "strong inconsistencies between the commander's statements and the result of the internal investigation" led to the dismissal of the pilot of the aircraft,
since the "relationship of trust in the workplace" was compromised.
Source: in.gr
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