Plane couldn’t land at popular holiday destination for almost incredible reason
The Airbus carries around 150 passengers [stock image](Image: Lukas Wunderlich via Getty Images)Passengers on an Air Corsica flight XK777 were left circling above Corsica's Napoléon Bonaparte airport for an extra half hour due to a rather unusual reason.The Air Corsica Airbus A320, arriving from Paris and already an hour late, found the runway lights switched off and air traffic control staff unresponsive to radio messages.The pilots had no choice but to put the plane in a holding pattern over the Mediterranean Sea as they tried to establish contact with the control tower. Flight tracking data reveals that the aircraft was circling for at least 20 minutes.It turned out that the lone air traffic controller at the airport had fallen asleep at his post.The crew contemplated diverting to Bastia Airport on the opposite side of the island, but in a final attempt to get a response from someone at Napoléon Bonaparte airport, they managed to reach its fire department.There was only one air traffic controller on duty at the time of the incident [stock image](Image: Richard Villalonundefined undefined via Getty Images)Eventually, someone was sent to the control tower to wake the sleeping controller, the lights along the single 2,400-metre runway were switched on, and the aircraft landed safely at 12:35 AM local time."The fire personnel got no response from the tower and alerted the gendarmerie," the plane's captain told local newspaper Corse Matin.He commented: "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."The captain praised the passengers' sang-froid [stock image](Image: Lukas Wunderlich via Getty Images)A spokesperson for the French aviation authority revealed: "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."Passengers finally disembarked approximately 80 minutes behind schedule, nearly doubling the intended flight duration. Drug and alcohol tests on the sleeping controller returned negative results, but a broader investigation into the incident's causes is ongoing.Although no injuries were reported in the incident, concerns have been voiced about staffing levels at smaller airports like Ajaccio. The main French air traffic control union, the SNCTA, has repeatedly complained about inadequate staffing and overwork, leading to several strikes.The aircrew considered an emergency diversion to Bastia, some 60 miles away(Image: picturedesigner via Getty Images)The next strike is scheduled for next month, from the morning of Tuesday 7 October to the morning of Friday 10 October. It's anticipated to cause travel disruption across the country, something the union claims is inevitable given the current turmoil within the French government.A union spokesperson stated: "The absence of a minister of transport currently makes it impossible to achieve demands at the ministerial level."Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has issued a demand for the European Commission to intervene, to ensure French airspace remains open to aircraft that are flying to destinations beyond France. "The French can go on strike, but Europe must protect overflights," he stated.European air traffic control authority Eurocontrol has noted that France has some of the most disruptive strikes on the continent.
