Dozy pilots sacked after falling asleep and overshooting airport by 15 miles - despite panicked calls from controllers

But it's quite another for both the captain and his co-pilot to take a power nap at 21,000 feet.

Last night, two pilots were accused of falling asleep at the controls of a passenger jet and overshooting the airport by 15 miles.

Scroll down for more ...

The aircraft was left on auto-pilot as the crew went off the radar and the jet drifted off course over the Pacific.

The captain and his co-pilot have been grounded and are under investigation for allegedly snoozing through 11 calls from air traffic controllers desperate to reach them.

When the skipper finally picked up a call and was asked by a panicked controller if there was anything wrong, he responded: "Uh, no emergency situation."

Scroll down for more ...

By that time, Flight 1002, operated by the cut-price go! airline, should have landed after a 30-minute inter-island Hawaiian trip.

The plane should have started to descend about 60 miles from its destination – Hilo airport on Big Island – after a 214-mile hop from Honolulu on Oahu.

But the plane with 40 passengers on board was still at cruising speed. The only people who apparently hadn't noticed were the few passengers who had grabbed a snooze – and the pilots.

Scroll down for more ...

The first call from air traffic control came through about 15 minutes into the flight, asking for confirmation that the pilots were preparing for a landing.

Over the next seven minutes, the controller tried repeatedly tried to make contact but got no response. Then she contacted another controller for help.

According to air traffic control tapes, the second handler said: "He's nordo [flying without radio contact] at 21,000 feet by Hilo already."

His colleague added: "Oh, wow." Airline analyst Peter Foreman said: "Obviously, someone was not minding the store."

The increasingly-concerned flight handlers finally tried contacting another airborne go! pilot hoping he could come up with a way to reach the lost crew.

When the captain finally responded 32 minutes into the flight, the controller told him: "Air Shuttle 1002, guys, I've been trying to contact you for the last 90 to 100 miles. I understand you've passed Hilo. Is there some kind of emergency situation going on?"

Apart from his hesitant denial, the captain didn't appear to give any explanation for his radio silence. The 50-seat Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft landed safely a few minutes later.

America's Federal Aviation Administration has launched an inquiry into the incident.

A spokesman for the Arizona-based airline declined to comment until the investigation has been completed.