Why your pilot might be sleeping, and that’s perfectly okay

What would your reaction be if you were told your pilot was asleep? Panic? Surprise? Or just calm, knowing that it was situation normal. Because pilot sleeping is allowed, and even encouraged since a short snooze at the right time can promote alertness when it's needed most, such as when a pilot is landing an aircraft.

Most aviation authorities stipulate that a pilot cannot remain at the controls in the cockpit for more than eight hours. However there are plenty of flights out of Australia that are longer than that, and that eight-hour period can be extended if they take a nap.

It can either be controlled rest, in their seat on the flight deck, or bunk rest, in a dedicated crew rest compartment, commonly found on long-haul aircraft.

On an Airbus 380 the pilots' rest compartment is just aft of the cockpit. Aboard Boeing's 787 Dreamliner it's above the main deck, up a short flight of stairs above the forward cabin. They're functional, but a long way short of the sort of luxury that first-class passengers enjoy. A typical flight crew quarter has two thin mattresses side by side, with a curtain divider in the middle.

Controlled rest is strictly what the name says, and one pilot must remain awake. That didn't happen on a recent flight from New York to Rome when the captain of an Airbus A330 operated by ITA, Italy's state-owned flag carrier, fell asleep at the wheel. His co-pilot was also napping but his was an approved rest period.

As the aircraft passed close to Marseilles, French air traffic controllers tried to contact the pilot in command, with no response. Fearing a hijacking, the French contacted ITA controllers who managed to rouse the pilots after 10 minutes.

None of the passengers or cabin crew would have noticed anything untoward. The aircraft was on autopilot, and hadn't deviated from its course. No harm done. But ITA didn't see it that way. The unapproved cruise snooze saw the captain was booted.