Pilot Fatigue: Universal Safety Concern

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses various aspects of pilot fatigue, the causes of such fatigue and the associated dangers. The paper also discusses aviation accidents where pilot fatigue was proved to have been the cause. The paper further discusses ways in which pilot fatigue can be avoided.

Outline:
Introduction
Accidents Associated With Fatigue
Causes and Results of Pilot Fatigue
Past, Present and Future Responses to Pilot Fatigue
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"There are of coarse more recent examples that 1999 and as the attention of the aviation industry, the flying public and of coarse the media have become more attuned to these sorts of situations the accounts are more likely to list pilot fatigue as a major cause of an accident but ultimately the responsibility is often laid upon the individual flight crews as to their obvious inability to self advocate in situations where their physical and mental state is impaired by fatigue. The commercial industry often does not associate their own responsibility, regarding the over scheduling of pilots or the random and physically and mentally disruptive nature of changing time zones, sleep deprivation or limited downtime in a increasingly competitive and demanding environment where cost cutting is necessary and individuals are often lost in the shuffle of the schedule with longer lists of flights and generally lower cost flights that provide a lower return on the investment."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Caldwell, J.A. (2004), "Fatigue in Aviation," Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease 3. pp.85-96.
• Fatigue Management Guide for Canadian Pilots TP 13959E (2005) at: http://www.tc.gc.ca/tdc/publication/tp13959e/13959e.htm
• Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Aviation Policy and Plans, Washington, DC 20591, USA Received 23 September 2002; revised 31 January 2003; accepted 27 March 2003. ; Available online 13 August 2003. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12963077&dopt=Abstract
• Garland, D. J., Wise, J. A., & Hopkin, V. D. (Eds.). (1999). Handbook of Aviation Human Factors. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• NTSB Accident report # LAX05CA257 at: http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20050906X01392&ntsbno=LAX05CA257&akey=1

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