Vietnam Airlines

[Amadeus]

Vietnam Airlines pilots oversleep during flight?

 

VietNamNet – Vietnam Airlines flight VN545 from Hanoi to Frankfurt lost contact for over one hour while flying in the airspace of three Eastern European countries.

 

The Czech Republic sounded the alarm, appointing two fighters to escort the Vietnam Airlines’ Boeing 777, demanding the aircraft land at a designated point.

 

The incident occurred on April 17, when the aircraft lost contact over Ukrainian airspace, but continued to fly over Poland and on to the Czech Republic. The Prague Air Traffic Control Station tried to make contact with the aircraft for 25 minutes and received no reply.

 

The Czech air force raised the alarm, dispatching two fighters to escort the Boeing 777, to force the aircraft to land. According to some sources, at that time, the two pilots on the aircraft woke up and open the communication system. They overslept and let the aircraft fly on automatic pilot for one hour and five minutes after losing contact. If the aircraft had not been flying at the correct height and within its flight corridor, the plane would have been shot down, ending the lives of more than 200 passengers.

 

Two points that are worrying here imo:

 

Vietnam Airlines seems to have a bit of an relaxed approach to long-haul flights

 

and

 

The Czechs can launch fighter planes quicker than the Yanks now...