{"id":20056,"date":"2020-01-21T10:50:51","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T14:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hartzellprop.com\/?p=20056"},"modified":"2020-01-21T10:50:52","modified_gmt":"2020-01-21T14:50:52","slug":"how-to-avoid-pilot-fatigue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hartzellprop.com\/how-to-avoid-pilot-fatigue\/","title":{"rendered":"Too Tired to Fly: How to Avoid Pilot Fatigue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fatigue has been a problem for pilots since the early days of aviation. In his memoir<\/a>, Charles Lindbergh recalls fighting the intense desire to sleep just nine hours into his 33-hour non-stop flight from New York to Paris. His fatigue caused him to fall asleep with his eyes open for moments at a time, and he even experienced hallucinations due to sleep deprivation.<\/p>\n

Today, fatigue remains a very real concern for pilots. It\u2019s estimated that pilot fatigue accounts for around 15-20% of all fatal air accidents related to human error, and there\u2019s no way of knowing how many unexplained accidents were caused by a pilot falling asleep at the controls.<\/p>\n

What is fatigue?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fatigue<\/a> is more than normal tiredness; it\u2019s a state of mental and physical weariness that leads to slower reaction times, impaired memory, withdrawn mood, and reduced attentiveness. For pilots, fatigue can be a serious flight hazard, resulting in loss of situational awareness, poor decision making, and even falling asleep at the controls. Part of the reason fatigue is so dangerous is that a pilot might not even realize he\u2019s fatigued until major errors have been made.<\/p>\n

There are three types of fatigue<\/a>: transient, cumulative, and circadian.<\/p>\n

Transient fatigue<\/strong> is acute fatigue brought on by extreme sleep restriction or extended hours awake within one or two days.<\/p>\n

Cumulative fatigue <\/strong>is fatigue brought on by repeated mild sleep restriction or extended hours awake across a series of days. Poor sleep quality or mild insomnia can lead to this type of fatigue.<\/p>\n

Circadian fatigue <\/strong>refers to reduced alertness and performance during nighttime hours, particularly during an individual\u2019s \u201cwindow of circadian low\u201d (WOCL). For people who follow a typical routine and sleep at night, the WOCL typically occurs between 2:00 a.m. and 5:59 a.m. Jet lag and night flying often cause this disruption in a pilot\u2019s circadian rhythm.<\/p>\n

Prevent flying while fatigued with these strategies:<\/strong><\/p>\n