After the worker dozed off on Monday, the Air Corsica flight from Paris Orly airport to Ajaccio was forced to fly around in circles above the Mediterranean Sea for "18 minutes", the authority told AFP, confirming a report in Corse Matin.

The high-profile testimony follows last month's abrupt ouster of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Susan Monarez, who told lawmakers on the Senate Health Committee that US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also demanded she fire career scientists from the agency.