As reported by AP, this week Congress conducted a hearing regarding information gleaned from the NASA study, which includes a story of pilots allegedly falling asleep on an overnight flight in 2004.
The particular flight in question was a “red eye” between Baltimore and Denver on which both the captain and the first officer were asleep as the aircraft approached its destination:
“‘Last 45 mins of flt (flight) I fell asleep and so did the FO (first officer),’ according to the narrative in the report…’I woke up, why I don’t know, and heard frantic calls from ATC … I answered ATC and abided by all instructions to get down. Woke FO (first officer) up.’”
The flight landed without further incident, and the pilot attributed the fatigue to having flown three overnight flights in a row.
It should be noted that the neither the pilot nor the airline involved in this incident was named; and that all the pilots questioned in the NASA survey, provided their information anonymously.
That said, this report would seem to shed some light on the very serious issue of pilot fatigue and how scheduling pilot flight hours can directly affect air travel safety. Airlines have policies in place to combat pilot fatigue, but airline employees and their spokespeople have said that it is a greater problem than the public realizes.
I will update you as I learn more about this particular situation and any other incidents that may surface from the NASA study.
You think this is new???? I’ll bet if the Wright Brothers Flight was any longer… They’d have snoozed too.
Picture this. Your day starts at 0700. At about 1900 that night, schedule calls to say they have a flight for you the next afternoon. you (the pilot) S-S-S, get packed, and the wife drives you to the airport for the 10 hour flight to the pilots base. After arrival at home base, there is a 4-5 hour wait until you have to be there for your shot time. Then you start your 10 hour trip to Tel Aviv. If you are a student of higher mathematics, that equals 44 hours before you’ve even arrived at your destination. And you guys want to pay us minimum wage. Ha, Ha, Good Luck with that, because now you have 400 hour pilot at the controls.
Flight Crew Fatigue
Regarding the recent investigation into the go! Airlines pilots who fell asleep, I have to ask why the flight attendant (FA) is not being questioned? As a former go! FA I know the quick turn-arounds don’t allow much time to prep the cabin for the next passengers, along with having to restock commissary for the very fast beverage services (all this alone because these CRJ-200 50-seat aircraft call for only one FA), and not being allowed a lunch/dinner break for up to 6 to 10 legs per shift is very exhausting & fatiguing. (When I asked the union about getting breaks, I was told that this is just how it is because the contract is based on the Railway Labor Act and that there was nothing that could be done — which shocked me because air and rail travel are so very different!) I bring up the FA’s involvement because the flight crew is a team and whenever I didn’t hear certain chimes at certain times, I called the flight deck immediately to find out what was going on. I was a new go! FA of only 4 days the first time I noticed something amiss, and was told the pilots were dealing with the loss of an hydraulics system and they didn’t want to risk telling me because I was so new. I assured them I took my FA training very seriously and I had safety foremost on my mind as I returned to my jumpseat (which faces the cabin) and smiled reassuringly while the announcement was made about returning to the airport– all the while reviewing in my mind all that I would do to help everyone onboard in case of an emergency. I believe all FA union contracts should be reviewed and based on air-travel specifics only, and that each flight crew member should have a lunch/dinner break to be able to stay fresh and alert and able to follow all FAA air travel safety rules and regulations. Longer stops between flights should also be looked into to as this could help with the varied and many go! AC maintenance safety issues that cause a lot of passenger frustration. I have not stepped forward before because I have a Grievance pending, but I speak out now because pilots fell asleep proving “flight crew fatigue” is very real and very dangerous. I hope someone who can look into these issues sees this letter. From Patricia Nosie, Lihu’e, Hawaii.