Were YOU on the flight? Email: poppy.gibson@dailymail.co.uk By POPPY ATKINSON GIBSON, LIFESTYLE REPORTER Published: 19:55 BST, 17 September 2025 | Updated: 19:55 BST, 17 September 2025
A plane full of tourists was forced to circle an airport after the traffic controller fell asleep.Passengers on a flight from Paris to Corsica were left hanging mid-air after the airport staff member on the ground took a mid-shift snooze, France's civil aviation authority revealed on Wednesday.After the worker dozed off on Monday, the Air Corsica flight from Paris Orly airport to Ajaccio was forced to fly around in circles above the Mediterranean Sea for '18 minutes'.The pilot was flying around the airport for so long that plans had been put in place to divert to Bastia, a port city on the other side of the island.They were only rescued from their limbo after the traffic controller was woken up and they were guided onto the runway safely.The controller had been waiting for the plane, which was an hour late, on his own on the shift and had dozed off, failing to light up the single 2,400-metre runway.The pilot then took the decision to circle the airport while the airport's fire crew frantically scrambled to get in contact with the traffic control tower. When they were unable to reach the guard, they contacted the police and staff eventually managed to climb the tower and wake them up. Passengers on an Air Corsica flight from Paris to Corsica were left hanging mid-air after the air traffic controller took a mid-shift snooze leaving them circling for 18 minutes (File image) The flight was an hour behind schedule and due to land at Ajaccio airport (pictured) but the delay left concerned cabin crew considering landing at Bastia, on the other side of the islandThe captain told The Times: 'In a career of several decades I have never had to handle such a situation. We did a little tour. At no time was there any panic. Everyone stayed calm.' He added that all the passengers found the issue funny and treated it 'with good humour'.'The intervention of the airport fire department at the control tower revealed that the air traffic controller on duty had fallen asleep at his post,' the aviation authority added.After the controller was woken up, 'the flight landed safely,' the authority said, adding that it had opened an investigation into the 'unusual situation'.Though the controller had tested negative for alcohol, 'a possible sanction is under consideration.'And the worker is not the only one to have fallen asleep on the job,Last year a Brisbane air traffic controller fell asleep at the control console during an early morning shift. The staff member at Cairns airport was reportedly tired from a series of night shifts before an early shift - they had completed seven night shifts in nine days.And it wasn't just a case of nodding off in his chair - the controller was found at around 5.15am lying across two chairs with a blanket and sleeping soundly on December 9. There were no planes in the vicinity at the time.And it's not just air traffic controllers who have fallen asleep on the job. Last year two pilots dozed off for almost half and hour during a flight over Indonesia. On January 25, both co-pilots, aged 28 and 32m fell asleep during a Batik Air return from Haluoleo International Airport, in Indonesia's Southeast Sulawesi region, to Soekarno-Hatta Airport, in the capital, Jakarta.When they woke up, they discovered the plane was no longer on the correct route.The 28-year-old pilot had been struggling to sleep after the birth of his twins and his recent house move. During the first leg of the journey the young pilot fell asleep for 30 minutes and woke up for the descent. After landing the pair had a snack of instant noodles before taking off again. But at 36,000 ft, the older pilot told his colleague he was going to sleep and take control of the plane but the 28-year-old and new father quickly fell asleep himself.Jakarta air traffic control repeatedly tried to contact the cockpit of the Batik Air flight but heard nothing from them for 28 minutes until the older pilot woke up.The 32-year-old pilot then woke up, corrected the flight path and safely landed at Jakarta.
