Idiot pilot, asleep at the stick in front of Feds.

Airline Pilot Caught Dozing in Flight
Fri Apr 30, 7:28 AM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - A pilot for Japan's All Nippon Airways fell asleep at the
controls for 45 minutes while on a domestic flight and had to be awakened by
a government inspector who was traveling with cockpit access privileges.

A spokesman for the airline said on Friday that the 50-year-old pilot, whose
name was not released, dozed off while flying on March 23 from Tokyo's
Haneda airport to the western India, a trip that takes about an 2 hours.

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 meters (36,000 feet), but he dozed off again and had to
be awakened, by splashing water over his head, a second time.

"He was asleep 35-45 minutes," the spokesman said.

The spokesman said there was no danger to passengers since the plane was on
auto-pilot. The pilot, who has not been suspended, due to a union
technicality.

Last year, a Japanese bullet train driver fell asleep at the controls while
his train was traveling at 270 km (168 miles) an hour. He was found to
suffer from sleep apnea, in which a person repeatedly stops breathing during
sleep, causing daytime drowsiness.