Originally Posted by
MD10PLT
During the cold war, the US military had lots of forward operating bases. Thus, crew rest and flight durations were generally not much of a concern. For those non-military the rules were pretty straight forward, you got 12 hours off before each flight and the flights generally were never longer than 12 hours and 16 hour duty day.
Later the military closed lots of forward bases and created the requirement for crews to operate from bases further away. Thus, flight durations started going up and duty days longer. Now, some crews see duty days in excess of 24 hours and occasionally flights as long as 42 hours.
The only way they are able to accomplish these missions/requirements is with the controlled use of prescription drugs.
The AF has lots of experience with Ambien and it works very well. However the real concern is, it worked so well it has allowed the commanders to demand and receive more productivity from their troops.
I fully support the FAA allowing the use for civilian flying (they currently allow the use up to 36 hours prior to a flight), however watch out for the slippery slope.
You speak some wisdom here.
In the AF, as a U-2 pilot some years back, we used a predesessor to Ambian called Restoril (temazipam) to quickly adjust for a new operating location or to ensure we were rested prior to an all night 12 hour mission. Each pilot had to be screened by the flight surgeon thru a trial period prior to being authorized to use it in a mission environment. And, we weren't given an endless supply as I can envision happening without some guidlines.
Fatigue can be cummulative or acute. Ambien utilized on a sparing basis to either prevent/correct acute fatigue should be considered. Having said that, the real issues are the very rules that lead to the real problem which is cummulative fatigue and airlines that schedule to the limit of said rules as a standard practice! That is the problem!
Ambien could have appropriate uses in the industry but not as a fix to keep the current rules regarding flight time, duty time, and duty day that have been extensively proven to be inadequate as it relates to fatigue and safety.
To address and prevent acute fatigue due to WOCL issues yes. As a standard fix for unsate scheduling practices to "get thru" a fatiguing trip, NO.
Lee