Pilot Fatigue
 

http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/4441/40/

This was posted on the regional boards, I thought for those of you that stick to this board would be interested in this video.

News station coverage of pilot fatigue

Very interesting..... I just posted a reply in a thread taking about just that, lack of crew rest.

"Lazybastardism"
 

Fatigue aside ... because as professional aviators, we should self assess and call in fatigued.

What if the pilot doesn't have the mental/emotional maturity to realize, that, although his/her job is, or can be for many, fun, he/she cannot forget his/her responsibility for the crew, aircraft, cargo, flying public and the general public?

What if the pilot sleeps on the job because of "Lazybastardism" ?

You should come do a little night flying with the FX and UPS boys. You might even enjoy it, if the laughter from your above comments doesn't cause hearing loss.

If you are implying "nappy time" is professional, then make it part of the SOPs - before every circadian period, the professional pilots land, park, shutdown - nap and then are ready to go.

I'm all for that.....

Or.....start RVSM + N ("N" for nappy time) keep traffic separated by 5k altitude and 25 mile lateral. ATC can wake up the crews, just like the Johnson Space Center wakes up the Shuttle crew with music.

Go ahead and call in tired whenever. I'm sure you can explain it away to the CP. Everyone here knows (or should know) that the rest rules are lame and just don't sync with reality. Seriously.

I can't call in tired whenever...If it's habitual, I have to see a doctor, etc.


Added: it's not the rest rules that get me, it's the duty day -

In several states, if a officer pulls you over for weaving in the traffic lane, and you admit to being up for over 16 hours, you'll get arrested/ticketed/summary offense for driving while impaired (DWI).

Try explaining that to the interviewer, if lucky enough to make it thru the on-line screening process

Hey here,s an idea 8 with max of 12 in a 24 hour day. thoughts?



Takeoffs are optional ,Landings are mandatory!

I agree. The first thing that needs to be done to address this issue is to immediately rid the world of the 16-hour duty day. If I were head of ALPA, this would be one of my top priorities.

There is no way anyone will convince me they are serious about safety until this absurd duty period is abolished.

There's no reason why anybody should fear calling in fatigued, provided that they don't take "advantage" of it. During my roughly 5 years flying the line for a 121 carrier, I called in fatigued 3 times. Each time was a situation where the schedule had been manipulated due to weather/delays/mx, and had resulted in odd circadian patterns and excessive duty time.

Each time I explained why I felt I was unsafe to the CP, and each time I headed to the hotel. Did the company want and explaination? Sure. Did the CP ask me if I felt that I was truly unsafe? Sure. Was there any disciplinary action taken- not in your life.

I can almost guarantee that every pilot on this forum that works for a 121 carrier (and most 135 operations) have somewhere in their flight ops manual a chapter about company safety. In there is going to be a "safety letter/statement" from either the CEO, President, VP of Ops, or Director of Safety that essentially glosses over the "safe operation of all aircraft at all times" and how "employees observing unsafe operations will take steps to stop them immediately." (You know- the usual yada yada that every company speak, but might not necessarily follow).

That right there is your largest weapon. Call in fatigued and get disciplinary action? Call the media and call a lawyer. If you take good faith action to remove yourself when you feel unsafe and lose your job as a result of it, you can better believe that the company is going to be hard pressed to defend itself against public opinion and a jury/judge with such a statement as policy.

Remember- document, document and document. Then stand up collectively as a group and say, enough is enough. The more folks that file complaints with the Department of Labor, OSHA, Congressional Reps, the FAA, etc, the more likely the pressure to change will be.

As FlyerJosh said, you should not fear calling in fatigued, but we just had someone at my company that got fired for calling in fatigued. I don't know if they were trying to make an example out of this person or what but it will make me think twice if I ever need to call in fatigued. Pretty sad and I hope ALPA does something about it, I know they are involved.

Know your management. Will they support you in the name of safety, or will they see you as a bad apple? If on probation, be especially careful. Sometimes it is better to fake getting sick.

Sadly, the FAA does not seem to care about this issue...

Fatigue can be insidious like being hypoxic or drunk. Some folks I have flown with have been fatigued and a rested crew member can pick up on it. If all fatigued, they will press because everyone is too fatigued to realize, just like the one too many drinks and one doesn't realize their impairment.
We all manage many distractions (wx, schedule changes,etc) on duty and get assimiliated to distractions off duty (sick kids, being awakened on layover without REM sleep, poor diet, etc) that can lead to fatigue without being aware.