Fighter Jets Scrambled After Pilots Fall Asleep on ITA Flight from New York to Rome

Two French fighter jets were scrambled to intercept an ITA Airways flight from New York’s JFK airport to Rome after both pilots fell asleep, according to a report that emerged Friday about an incident that took place over France on April 30.

AirLive reported:

A pilot triggered a terrorist alert over French airspace after falling asleep in the cockpit of a passenger jet for 10 minutes, it has emerged.

The co-pilot was also sleeping, but was taking an authorised nap within the context of a “controlled rest” period. The captain of the jet was the only one at fault, having fallen asleep accidentally during this time.

The Italian pilot and co-pilot were flying an ITA Airways Airbus A330 flight from New York to Rome on April 30 when the incident occurred, leading the plane to remain silent for 10 minutes while flying over French airspace.

New York’s ABC-7 reported earlier this week:

John Nance, an ABC News contributing aviation analyst, called this situation “extremely dangerous,” especially if the pilots were unable to monitor weather conditions and the plane’s fuel status.

“The plane can still fly on autopilot, but this is not smart or safe,” he said.

ITA, formerly known as Alitalia, is Italy’s national flag carrier airline, and was hailed by CNN earlier this week for the “sassy new look” of in-flight air crew.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.