The Importance Of Fatigue In Pilots

One of the worst feelings is when you are making a long drive in a car and realize you don’t remember the last half hour or longer. Sometimes people say they were on autopilot but most likely, they are suffering from some form of fatigue. According to Webster’s dictionary fatigue is the state of being very tired or extreme weariness. (Webster’s 2015) This can be very dangerous while driving a car, and even more dangerous while flying an airplane.

With advances in modern avionics and autopilots, safety should only increase but with advances in systems, often comes an increase in complacency. In the next generation aircraft of today, pilots often find themselves monitoring and managing the aircraft more than flying them. This often increases the likelihood of increased complacency and possible lowered safety margins when inattentive.

Fatigue can be difficult for many pilots to mitigate as they often don’t realize they are fatigued until it is too late. Aviation accidents are usually attributed to many different causes, often pilot error but fatigue most likely is a mitigating factor.

On February 12,

2009, Colgan flight 3407 ended in a disastrous crash. One of the main causes of the crash cited by the NTSB was pilot error but also noted that both pilots had said they were tired before the flight and the First Officer also stated that she was not feeling well. The First Officer had commuted into Newark from Seattle the same day. (Air Facts Journal 2014) Instead of looking further into the consequences of commuting and poor work environment, the FAA decided to focus on blaming the pilot’s skills and experience as major factors for the cause of accident. A rule change directly related to this accident was the requirement of 1500 hours and an ATP to be a part 121 First Officer. The irony to the FAA ruling was that the First Officer on Colgan 3407 had 2200 hours flight experience with 800 hours in type.
According to the NTSB, the probable cause of the crash was the Captains inappropriate response to the stick shaker. (NTSB 2010) They also cited contributing factors of lack of monitoring airspeed, breach of sterile cockpit procedures, lack of flight management, and inadequate company procedures of airspeed selection during approaches in icing conditions. (NTSB 2010) The captain on this flight had numerous unsatisfactory marks for both check rides and line checks, showing quite possibly an inherit lack of flying skill under pressure.
In a ruling by the FAA new standards for training were implemented that focused on correct stall recovery, more in line with how pilots are initially trained as private pilots. The new ruling also requires air carriers to better track any training issues pilots have, better crosswind training, enhanced runway safety procedures, and finally more effective pilot monitoring. (FAA 2013) In the instance of Colgan 3407, more effective pilot monitoring could have prevented the crash all together. It is quite possible, that the First Officer that stated that she was very tired and not feeling well, could have done more to help recover the aircraft had she been in a more fit state to fly. Investigators have to speculate after a crash, what state the crew members were in both physically and mentally. Had the First Officer been well rested before the flight, her reaction to the slow speed and poor control of the aircraft by her Captain could have been much different.
The FAA and NTSB should have focused more attention on fatigue as a larger factor in the cause of the crash, which most likely increased the likelihood of pilot error. One of the most important symptoms of fatigue, is the feeling of indifference, or “settling for less” when it comes to personal performance, or a lack of motivation. (Reinhart 247-248) Inherently being fatigued decreases the likelihood that the pilot recognizes that they are fatigued, this increases the chances for errors and the possibility that the pilot may take unnecessary risks that they normally wouldn’t.
The crew environment was designed to help mitigate the chance of fatigue becoming the most dangerous human factor of the flight. Unfortunately, if both pilots are fatigued from flying a very long day or numerous days without adequate rest, it is possible for both to be experiencing symptoms of fatigue. If both pilots are lacking normal judgement due to fatigue, it can develop into a dangerous situation very quickly.
Airline pilots have many factors working against them in the fight against fatigue. Just working in an aircraft can be fatiguing. The high noise levels, constant vibrations, low aircraft humidity and the higher than normal altitude of the aircraft cabin are strong fatigue factors.
The low humidity of modern aircraft causes pilots to be dehydrated. It is very simple to counter dehydration by just drinking enough water. Unfortunately pilots often do not drink enough as it requires more trips out of the flight deck during flight, thus causing strain on the flight attendants and increasing security risks. Many pilots consume coffee as their major ingestion of fluid, which can be counterproductive as it is a diuretic.
The best countermeasure for fatigue is getting restful sleep. No two people have the same sleep pattern or needs, but it is possible to monitor your own sleep habits to try and maintain constant sleep patterns. It is also important to be mindful of eating habits and the consumption of alcohol before bed time, as they have a direct effect on the quality and restfulness of sleep.
During a night of sleep humans alternate between two types of sleep rapid eye movement sleep know as REM and four stages of non-Rem. The most rejuvenating and most beneficial sleep occurs during non-REM deep sleep. This occurs about every 90-100 minutes of sleep. Interruptions in the sleep cycle can have detrimental effects on having enough sleep and countering fatigue. The amount of sleep required by each individual can vary drastically, if you have a person that need 9 hours of sleep per night a loss of a couple of hours of sleep can be very detrimental. Some people require as little as three hours of sleep per night and have normal function without fatigue, this is why it is important to learn personal requirements to help mitigate your own fatigue levels. It is not just sleep that is necessary but restful sleep, without this restful sleep at some point a pilot will become unsafe, and no amount of experience or training can overcome the body’s need for sleep.(Reinhart p. 245)
When a pilot is fatigued it is possible to fall asleep at the most inopportune times.

Personally I have been on a jump seat after flying numerous nights in a row and was unable to keep my eyes open on final approach. Had I been one of the pilots flying I would have been a danger to the flight, even though I felt fine before the flight had departed. Many pilots find themselves in the same situation as it is very difficult to predict when fatigue may take over and affect your judgement. I have also looked over at another crew member to find them asleep, likely fighting with fatigue as they said nothing to me or even warned me that they were feeling tired. I believe a proactive approach would be to allow one crew member to take a planned controlled nap, this could drastically increase a pilot’s alertness at times when work load and required attention were

higher.
In an effort to counteract fatigue in the flight deck, the FAA finally introduced new rest rules which in theory should help to minimize pilot fatigue and increase safety. The new rest rules increase the likelihood that pilots should have the chance to get eight hours of rest. The problem with the new rest rules, is how each company interprets what to do when a pilot calls in fatigued. At the airline that I work for if you call in fatigued you are pulled off you current trip no questions asked, then expected to notify scheduling when you will be fit for duty. Unfortunately, most likely you don’t know when you will be fit for duty until you are rested. Calling in fatigued is supposed to be non-punitive, for safety reasons, but if you call in fatigued you will lose the pay for flights you did not fly and have to explain why you were fatigued to the review board. The review board has the ability to return the pay to you, but a low percent of our reviews are paid back to the pilot. For many of the pilots at the airline that I work for a fatigue call becomes monetarily punitive, and I have heard many pilots say they won’t call in even if they know they are fatigued due to the consequences.
I find it sad and disturbing that safety has become monetary. The loss of lives or one aircraft would pay for every fatigue call, a company could ever have. The new rest rules are definitely a step in the right direction, for decreasing the effects of fatigue for the non-commuting pilot. Airline domiciles are often in either undesirable or unaffordable locations. Airlines that have unaffordable domiciles due to low pilot wages need to make better commuter policies which will allow their pilots to arrive at work rested enough for a safe days work. When a pilot has to come to work ten or more hours early and the only hotels available are four hundred dollars a night, which is the case in many large cities in the U.S., it becomes clear how pilots become fatigued being unable to afford to pay for somewhere to sleep. Major airlines usually have crew lounges where a commuting pilot can get some rest before their trips. This is often not the case at regional airlines. The airline I work for has some decent crew lounges that even have quiet rooms to rest during the day, though there are signs prohibiting overnight sleeping. It becomes very confusing if the companies we work for want us rested or just want the flights flown whether were rested or not. For now it is up to individual pilots to be rested and ready for duty, hopefully in the future companies will see the importance and help to invest in the safety of their crews and passengers.