'In a career of several decades, I have never had to handle such a situation,' said the plane's captain

A French passenger plane was forced to circle the skies above Corsica after the only air traffic controller on duty fell asleep as the aircraft was preparing to land.

Firefighters and police were called to the scene in an effort to wake the man when the control tower failed to respond to the plane's radio calls.

Pilots were flying the aircraft from Paris to Napoléon Bonaparte airport in Ajaccio on Tuesday when they were prevented from landing for 18 minutes by the unfortunately timed nap.

The aircraft was almost diverted to Bastia, a city on the other side of the French Mediterranean island, as it was unable to descend on the 2,400m runway in the dark.

"The fire personnel got no response from the tower and alerted the gendarmerie," the captain of the Air Corsica Airbus A320, told Corse Matin.

"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. The passengers treated the incident with good humour."

The flight had already been delayed by an hour when pilots were unable to make contact with the control room. The airport's ground staff, including the fire crew, tried to reach the staff member in the control tower but were delayed by security measures.

They were eventually able to access the tower to find the controller asleep at his desk and woke him up. The man switched on the runway lights and cleared the jet to land, which it did without incident.

He was later tested for signs of intoxication, but was cleared for both drugs and alcohol. The French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) told Corse Martin that an internal investigation had been opened into the matter.

The air traffic controller in question is "due to see an occupational health doctor soon". They added: "A meeting with his superior is planned, and a possible sanction is being considered."

The DGAC refuted claims that the incident occurred due to staffing issues, stating: "The staffing levels were in accordance with the requirements, with two controllers present, the second of whom was on a break for a period of 4 hours."

French air traffic controllers have previously complained about pay and working conditions, which they say causes fatigue and stress.

Earlier this week, the SNCTA union announced that a planned strike by air traffic controllers this month would be postponed until October due to the collapse of the French government.

Flight forced to circle skies around airport after air traffic controller fell asleep