Actually in the DC3 days when these regs were written ,some local service lines were flying 8-9 legs a day,(aka old Frontier,Allegheny ,etc.),they hand flew in atrocious weather,and the old AN low frequency aural null approach and nav system got you down to 300 and 1,at EWR,and other stations.One of my old mentors told me during WW2 ,they would fly the old C47s under the hood till touchdown in training. No weather radar,tailwheel ops,round engine vibration ,and noise, multi leg days, I think they were well acquainted with fatigue.

 

Back then they were men...if a farmer cut off his finger, he would have asked his wife Thelma for a needle kit to try and sew it back on (my grandpa did that). I think back then they could fly 8 hrs with 16 hrs duty, get off work, then go straight to the farm to work. But I can't do that, I put band-aids on papercuts, and want 10 hrs of sleep....and I don't know how to sew.

 

What was the accident rate in 1949 per seat mile flown?

 

Open up the book "Fate is the Hunter" and read the four pages of names listing airline pilots killed and me again about the good old days when men were men.

 

it was the pioneering days of the profession,the risks were real,the flying epic.

 

horrendous

 

I see what you are saying, but I'm sure that wasn't every operation. And just like some other guys brought up that when they pushed it like you mentioned many people died. Yeah, maybe they didn't complain about it because they never knew how it could have been and I'm sure the studies were lacking during those times. So what has changed since then. Well I'm not speaking of anyone specifically but the skilled pilot has become more lacking skill and technology has gotten better. The trade off has only been technology which is used as a crutch. The same weather still exists, the same flight durations and segments still exist but we must now rely on technology. Seems that the lowest paid guys get the "S*&T" end of that stick where the technology is least seen and the critical phases of flight are most seen. Something must be done......

 

I think you're missing my point, those rules were created out of that demanding environment, more needs to be done, I flew 3s non-sched for 10 years,awesome flying, horrible lifestyle,I think I was fatigued for a decade. Fortunately my outfit was law abiding,and maintained the ships to the highest standard,but the rest rules were not adequate,from what I have heard ,thankfully this is going to be addressed. Never worked harder in my aeronautical life than behind the yoke of the Douglas.

 

To sum it up:

Regulations are written in blood.

 

True, as sad as it that that's what it takes to enact a change.

As far as changes to flight/duty time changes go, way to much blood. Just the most popular, AA/LIT, Corpex, and Colgan.