Short-haul pilots and fatigue

A report for Scotland on Sunday writes that "80% of airline pilots flying within the UK and Europe admit to suffering tiredness that impairs their judgment."

He was reporting on an on-line survey carried out by a team of researchers at the University of Central England, Birmingham. More than 160 short-haul pilots responded to the survey.

Short-haul pilots claim they are routinely asked to fly extra hours - which should be reserved for dealing with delays and emergencies - to meet packed airline schedules.

In the skies above the UK, an average of one "near miss" a month is now blamed on pilot fatigue, and concern is growing that mounting pressure on tired aircrew could lead to tragedy.

In the U.K., Civilian Aviation Authority rules state that pilots making more than seven flights a day must not spend more than nine hours on duty, from the moment they report for a flight to the completion of post-flight tasks. Pilots also are allowed up to three additional "discretion" hours to cope with exceptions such as operational delays.

But Dr Craig Jackson, a health psychologist involved in the study, claims short-haul airlines, particularly budget airlines, are using this extra time as part of their daily roster in a bid to cram in more flights on a route. Jackson said 21% of pilots reported regularly flying into their "discretion periods".

He said: "This is a shocking finding. If you make a mistake at 30,000ft it is a little bit different from a worker who has not got several hundred people's lives in their hands."

Perhaps the rules are inadequate for safety.

"Severe fatigue" was reported by 75% of the pilots. A total of 81% complained that their tiredness was worse than two years ago. Most disturbing of all, 80% reported flying while their judgment was impaired by tiredness.

The researchers said they spoke to one pilot who told them of an instance when he was so fatigued after a duty day that he was too tired to drive himself home from the airport. He pulled off to the side of the road and slept for hours.

Jackson added that the problem was not just restricted to the budget airlines, and scheduled airlines were also pushing the flying time limits.

"Although the budget airlines have driven these changes by running 10 flights a day, the other scheduled airlines are trying to keep up and pushing their own pilots as much as they legally can."

The results of the survey will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Occupational Medicine.

You can read the whole news article about it (including some reader comments) here: 80% of pilots admit flying while too tired - Scotland on Sunday

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