Pilot sparks hijack terror alert after ‘falling ASLEEP at the controls’ of passenger flight from New York

A CAPTAIN working for Italy’s premier state airline has been fired after causing a hijack scare by allegedly falling asleep at the controls. The flight fell under a 10 minute communications “blackout” when the pilot and co-pilot allegedly dozed off, leading to a major terror alert. A pilot for ITA Airways has been sacked after allegedly falling asleep during a flight from New York to Rome According to the Italian daily Repubblica, while the Airbus 330’s co-pilot was allowed to have a nap for a “controlled rest”, the captain was supposed to remain awake at the same time. The pilots of ITA Airways flight AZ609 sparked panic when they failed to respond to air traffic controllers at around 5:20am. The flight was travelling from New York to Rome on April 30. When the cockpit was unreachable after entering French airspace, French authorities were forced to warn their Italian counterparts the plane might have been hijacked by terrorists. The plane reportedly remained on autopilot during the incident, and a spokesperson for the airline told the Telegraph that passenger safety was never at risk. Most read in News YOU PLONKER 'Del Boy' yacht owner's flashing nameplate 'sparked inferno on £6million craft' BIG REGRET Russian gives middle finger to drone moments before craft blitzes Putin’s forces LITTLE FIGHTER Boy, 7, thrown from 10th floor of Tate Modern 'defying docs’ predictions' LIFE'S A BEACH We're living in caravans & Travelodges after greedy landlords kicked us out CRASH HORROR Passenger plane carrying 22 people CRASHES just minutes after take off VA-VA ZOOM Couple accidentally livestream themselves having SEX on Zoom for 45 minutes The captain denies he fell asleep, and claimed issues with the communications system led to the incident. However, this was debunked by an internal investigation by ITA Airways when technicians tested the systems, leading the airline to fire the captain. The dozy situation escalated to the point where two fighter jets were told to prepare to approach the plane to see inside the cockpit. The Italian airway’s command centre attempted to send messages to the aircraft, although this was met with radio silence by the napping pilots. After eventually awaking after 10 minutes, the plane landed in Rome 20 minutes early. The Sun has approached ITA for comment. We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun news desk? Email us at exclusive@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4104. You can WhatsApp us on 07423 720 250. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours Click here to get The Sun newspaper delivered for FREE for the next six weeks.