{"id":7698,"date":"2025-09-22T01:14:35","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T01:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/french-flight-left-circling-in-the-air-for-18-minutes-after-air-traffic-controller-falls-asleep-on-duty\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T01:14:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T01:14:35","slug":"french-flight-left-circling-in-the-air-for-18-minutes-after-air-traffic-controller-falls-asleep-on-duty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/french-flight-left-circling-in-the-air-for-18-minutes-after-air-traffic-controller-falls-asleep-on-duty\/","title":{"rendered":"French flight left circling in the air for 18 minutes after air traffic controller falls asleep on duty"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Air traffic controller falls asleep while on duty, Paris–Corsica flight forced to circle around in air<\/h2>\n

An Air Corsica flight was forced to circle above the Mediterranean for nearly 20 minutes after the only air traffic controller at Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport in France, fell asleep on the job.<\/p>\n

Flight XK777 had departed from Paris Orly Airport at 10.45pm on Monday (15 Sept) and was preparing to land in Ajaccio after a 75-minute journey.<\/p>\n

But when the crew radioed in for landing clearance, the control tower stayed silent, reports Aviation Source News (AVSN).<\/p>\n

Runway lights left switched off<\/h3>\n

France’s civil aviation authority later revealed that the runway lights had not been switched on because the controller — who was working alone —had dozed off.<\/p>\n

With no clearance and no lights, the pilots had no choice but to keep the plane circling above the island for about 18 minutes, according to the news site World Is One News (WION).<\/p>\n

At one point, the crew even considered diverting to another nearby airport for landing.<\/p>\n