Asleep at the wheel!

How necessary are pilots on a modern aircraft with an autopilot that does most of the work? Not all that much if the story about the el cheapo Dutch airline Transylvania is true. Apparently, a co-pilot went to the toilet, locked himself out of the cockpit and couldn’t get back in because the pilot was too deeply asleep to hear him banging on the door! No damage done, though, because he “managed” to get back into the cockpit – and, presumably, resumed sitting in his seat, doing nothing much.