Transcript Prevalence of Fatigue among Short

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Fatigue in Short-Haul Pilots
The importance of
“discretion time” flying
Dr. Craig Jackson
Senior Lecturer in Psychology
BCU
Fatigue is understood in Long-Haul Flights
“One of the worst dangers of pilot fatigue is apathy. The severely
fatigued pilot can be indifferent as to the outcome of the flight and
their operational performance.” - British Midland
NASA’s “Ames” 10 year program
Fatigued Pilots:
Willing to accept poor performance
Gradual and cumulative effects
Fatigued pilots less vigilant
Show signs of poor judgment
The following do not counteract fatigue….
Skill
Increased effort / strong will
Stamina
Physical Condition
Education
Training
Experience
Professionalism
Motivation
Caffeine
Medication / Pharmaceuticals
Arkansas 1999.
11 killed in American Airlines crash
Guam 1997.
228 dead after a Korean Air crash.
New York 1990.
73 killed in Avianca crash
Pilot Fatigue MAIN factor in all three
crashes - NTSB
Microsleep
“Nodding off”
Uncontrolled spontaneous episodes of sleep
Can last seconds or minutes
Disengages from reality and becomes unresponsive
Fail to respond to outside information
Aircraft cruising at 450 knots on glide path can travel nearly
730 feet during a one-second lapse.
123 feet
Flight Time Limitations
FAR 121.471(a) reads:
No certificate holder conducting domestic operations may schedule
any flight crewmember and no flight crewmember may accept an
assignment for flight time in scheduled air transportation or in other
commercial flying if that crewmember’s total flight time in all
commercial flying will exceed –
1,000 hours in any calendar year;
100 hours in any calendar month;
30 hours in any 7 consecutive days;
8 hours between required rest periods.
FTL’s unrealistic in
low cost multisector operations.
“FTL’s were absolute limits and should not be used as normal
rostering practice, yet low cost airlines push us to limits as standard
practice” – Ryanair Pilot
Discretion
Time allowed, above FLT to enable pilots to complete duties if delays
occur e.g. waiting for fuel, strikes, procedural problems
FLT over 24hr period
Flight duty #1
Rest period
Flight duty #2
Rest period
Flight duty #2
OK
Flight duty #1
Delay extends duty #1 into Rest Period
Study Aims
Quantify the extent of the problem - prevalence
Perfect a working methodology
Findings
Compare budget pilots with scheduled pilots
Relationship between take off / landings and fatigue
The role of “Discretion” in fatigue
Discussion points
Fatigue and Length of Service as a Pilot . . . . ?
Strong Anecdotal Evidence . . . . ?
“I had just completed a multi sector operation over 3 days and was
driving home. I was 15 minutes away from home when I felt so
overwhelmingly tired I had to pull over for a few minutes, when I
promptly fell to sleep. It was 8 hours later before I woke up.”
Captain of an A320
Civil Airline
Why pick on Short-Haul (Budget) Airlines?
• Fatigue important factor in aviation safety
• Low cost, multi sector operations grown
• Increase chances of fatigue
• 21% reported accidents attributed to fatigue
• Research into long-haul was intensive
• Short-Haul largely neglected
• Short Haul, multi-sector pilots affected by fatigue
• Last few years, more crews flew into discretion
• Flight Time Limitations becoming inadequate
• 1993 European working time directive
Methodology of Study
Discussion Groups
Diary keeping
Questionnaire on PPRUNE website
Demographics
Operational details
Occupational history
Fatigue Scale (Chalder et al. 1993 )
Physical fatigue + Psychological fatigue = Total fatigue score
Caseness vs. Non-caseness
Summary of Results
Discussion groups
n=45
Diary Keeping
n=20
Questionnaire
n=169
158 male (93%)
11 female (7%)
Mean age 38 years ± 9 (min 21, max 59)
Data were adjusted for time of completion and world location
Summary of Results
76% (n=128) of the sample reported severe fatigue
50% (n=85) reported they had been asked (by airline) to change their
“recorded” duty times to fit in with FTLs
No difference on any fatigue measures and:
• Age
• Sex of pilots
• Aircraft type
• Years of service
• Number of take-offs-landings
82% reported fatigue levels more significant than 2 years ago
80% felt impaired judgement when flying
Sectors (take offs & landings)
Risk Factors for Severe Fatigue
Relationship Between Fatigue Measures
Discretion-Time Flying
Testimonials from Interviewed Pilots
“I do not believe I will be alive age 60 at this present rate of overwork.”
“Constant fatigue, tiredness, poor performance, lack of any job
satisfaction rules my life.”
“Companies will roster to what they legally can, then expect you to go
into discretion to get the job done.”
“FTL’s are unrealistic in low cost operations.”
“I would be in excess of FTL’s but for the ‘massaging’ of our duty start
time.”
“Recently I had an incident which was out of character and entirely due
to fatigue.”
Conclusions
High level of severe fatigue – both quantified & anecdotal
Fatigue not associated with number of sectors
Use of discretion strongly associated with fatigue
Concerns about fatigue and health associated with fatigue
Low cost pilots have more and severe fatigue
Results from other studies concur:
(NASA, AIR NZ, France, UK)
Moving Forward
Results both provocative and alarming
Severe fatigue rampant in short-haul & low
cost industry
Can be translated into operationally
relevant practice
Could save future aviation disasters
Chronobiology in aircrew scheduling
Further large scale, confidential research
Air NZ, AUS, Asia, London University 2001