Air Corsica flight circles Corsica airport after traffic controller falls asleep

A plane carrying tourists was forced to circle Ajaccio–Napoléon Bonaparte Airport for about 18 minutes after the air traffic controller on duty allegedly fell asleep during a mid-shift break, France’s civil aviation authority said Wednesday. The Air Corsica flight from Paris Orly to Ajaccio was about an hour late when the incident began, and the crew’s hold above the Mediterranean became a calm, high-stakes delay rather than a crisis on board.

The controller, working alone on a mid-shift, did not light the airport’s single 2,400-meter runway, according to the aviation authority. The pilot maintained the holding pattern while the situation at the ground progressed. The airport fire crew attempted to establish contact with the control tower, and when communications could not be established, police were alerted. Staff eventually climbed the control tower to wake the sleeping controller, after which landing clearance was granted and the flight proceeded to Ajaccio.

The flight had been delayed by about an hour, and officials said the crew had contemplated diverting to Bastia on the island’s east coast before the controller was awakened and the aircraft landed safely. The captain told The Times that the crew faced an unusual situation but kept passengers calm: “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.”

France’s civil aviation authority confirmed the incident and said the flight landed safely after the controller was awakened. An investigation into the “unusual situation” has been opened, and the worker’s alcohol test reportedly came back negative, though authorities noted that sanctions could be considered pending the inquiry.

The incident adds to a broader conversation about fatigue and safety in aviation. It echoes a separate fatigue-related episode from the past year in which a Brisbane air traffic controller at Cairns Airport slept on the job, reportedly after a string of night shifts. The staff member was found around 5:15 a.m., lying across chairs with a blanket during a shift that followed several nights of duty.

The notes also recount an Indonesian case from January in which two Batik Air pilots dozed for about 30 minutes during a flight from Haluoleo International Airport to Jakarta, causing a temporary deviation from the planned route before they regained control and landed safely. In that incident, control communications were disrupted for nearly half an hour before the pilots reasserted the flight path.

Authorities emphasized that no planes were in the vicinity at the Cairns incident when the sleep occurred, and in the Batik Air case, the airline and regulators later reviewed crew rest regulations and monitoring procedures. The Corsica case remains under formal review to determine levels of responsibility, potential safety risks, and any adjustments needed to prevent recurrence. The aviation authority’s ongoing inquiry will examine scheduling, fatigue management, and on-ground verification procedures to ensure runways remain properly lit and monitored during all shifts, especially in busy resort seasons when traffic increases and delays are more likely. The public and passengers will await the findings of that investigation as officials weigh potential sanctions for the controller and changes to procedures at Ajaccio. World readers should note that the incident involved a single, isolated lapse and that Air Corsica maintains flight safety commitments across its network.