A pilot for Japan’s All Nippon Airways fell asleep at the
controls for several minutes while on a domestic flight and had to be
awakened by a government inspector who was travelling in the cockpit. An
official from the Transport Ministry, who was in the cockpit for a routine
inspection, woke the pilot after he fell asleep as the plane was cruising at
12,000 metres (36,000 feet), but he dozed off again and had to be awakened a
second time. “He was asleep for two or three minutes,” the
spokesman said. The spokesman said there was no danger to passengers since
the plane was on auto-pilot and the co-pilot was also present. The pilot, who
has been suspended, is undergoing medical tests.