Batik Air flights fly from Southeast Sulawesi to Jakarta.

In a shocking incident, two Indonesian Airways pilots reportedly fell asleep for around half an hour mid-flight with passengers on board. guardian. The pilot and co-pilot slept simultaneously for about 28 minutes. According to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (KNKT), the Batik Air flight was en route from Southeast Sulawesi to the Indonesian capital Jakarta on January 25.

Although the incident resulted in multiple navigation errors, no 153 passengers or four flight attendants on board the Airbus A320 were injured during the 2 hours and 35 minutes of the flight.

Christy Enda Mulney, director general of civil aviation at the Department for Transport, said the ministry “strongly condemns” the incident at Batik Air and urged airlines to pay more attention to crew rest breaks. The ministry is also launching an investigation.

The first officer reportedly informed the first officer earlier in the day that he was not getting “appropriate rest.” About ninety minutes after takeoff, the captain asked the first officer for permission to take a short rest, and the request was granted. The co-pilot also inadvertently fell asleep after he took control of the plane, the investigation said. “The second-in-command has a pair of one-month-old twin babies. His wife is responsible for taking care of the babies, and he helps at home,” the report said.

The Jakarta Area Control Center (ACC) attempted to contact the aircraft 12 minutes after the co-pilot’s last known communication, but the pilot did not respond, the agency said. Approximately 28 minutes after the last recorded transmission, the captain woke up and realized that the aircraft was not on the correct flight path. He then woke up his second-in-command and responded to the ACC, the report said. The captain told ACC that there was a “radio communication problem” during the flight, but it was fixed.

The report stated that the captain was a 32-year-old Indonesian man and the co-pilot was a 28-year-old Indonesian man, but the name of the pilot was not disclosed.

Flight BTK6723 landed safely and no casualties were reported. The crew has also been grounded pending further investigation as per standard operating procedure.

Badi Air said in a statement that it “operates under an adequate rest policy” and is “committed to implementing all safety recommendations.” The pilot has been suspended, it added.