Plane flies past airport 'as pilots sleep'

Mumbai: An Air India flight headed for Mumbai overshot its destination and was halfway to Goa before its dozing pilots were woken out of a deep slumber by air traffic control, a report said.

The high altitude nap took place approximately two weeks ago, the Times of India reported on Thursday. The report, however, drew a furious denial from Air India.

"The aircraft had strayed 10-15km away from Mumbai and 'not almost half way to Goa' as alleged in the report," said Jitendra Bhargava, Air India spokesman.

"It is regrettable that by publishing the report The Times of India has created unwarranted doubts in the minds of the travelling public with regard to pilot fatigue. We would like to emphatically state that there has been no instance of any pilot having fallen asleep in the cockpit of any Air India flight," he said.