Sleeping Pilots

[Ansett]

Wake-up call: four in 10 pilots asleep in the coughpit - Armchair Traveller

Fact or fiction or sensationalism what do you think?

Perhaps JB747 could comment on this

 

[bigjobs]

how many drivers fall asleep at the wheel ... ?? People fall asleep, that's what happens.

meh ... We need news to tell us this happens?

 

[harvyk]

how many drivers fall asleep at the wheel ... ?? People fall asleep, that's what happens.

meh ... We need news to tell us this happens?

Yes drivers do fall asleep at the wheel, and they do campaigns to tell people to stop revive survive, they set up driver revivers in country towns where you can get a free coffee, a biscuit and in some cases they'll even fire up the BBQ all for free, it's certainly not something which is swept under the rug...

So why shouldn't the same concern, but this time in the aviation environment be talked about?

 

[markis10]

So why shouldn't the same concern, but this time in the aviation environment be talked about?

Unlike most road based transport, planes have duplicated crew and controls, its the co pilots job to stay awake!

 

[NM]

Unlike most road based transport, planes have duplicated crew and controls, its the co pilots job to stay awake!

And they have several computers to keep it flying along the planned flight path and not run off the road into a ditch, a paddock or a tree.

 

[oz_mark]

So why shouldn't the same concern, but this time in the aviation environment be talked about?

It needs to be discussed, probably in aviation circles, in terms of fatigue management. With a large number of back of clock operations, multiple timezones etc, one would expect it to happen to some extent. How it is managed is probably the pertinent issue.

 

[mannej]

I know fatigue was thrown around as a possible answer as to why one of the KAL 747's had a CFIT in Guam.

There was also the case of the crew in America who overflew their destination by a few hundred miles, before waking up and turning back.

So maybe not as fiction as some may think.

 

[markis10]

Given fatigue is the biggest road killer, it's not surprising that it accounts for many issues in the air.

 

[medhead]

Given fatigue is the biggest road killer, it's not surprising that it accounts for many issues in the air.

I saw that headline on the SMH website today. Sadly the facts didn't live up to the headline.


Sent from the Throne

 

[markis10]

I saw that headline on the SMH website today. Sadly the facts didn't live up to the headline.


Sent from the Throne

Problem being there is no post mortem test as such to conclusively say what was the cause, I suspect it's a bigger killer than most realise, and having had jobs where you notice daily alert differences, not surprised.

 

[medhead]

A big issue is the subjective classification of cause by police. But yes of course people die from falling asleep while driving. It just would have been interesting to see the actual statistics of the deaths and accident causes.


Sent from the Throne

 

[under the radar]

i know for a fact there are procedures in place at QANTAS that manage inflight fatigue and rest periods for flight deck crew...i wont post as i'm not sure of the 'legalities' involved with posting such information..

 

[TheEmu]

Topical subject to pop up here after reading this scary tale earlier in the week:[h=1]Royal Flying Doctor Service pilot passed out at controls later tests positive for drugs[/h]http://www.news.com.au/national/royal-flying-doctor-service-pilot-passed-out-at-controls-later-tests-positive-for-drugs/story-fndo4ckr-1226520737157