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The Fatigue Issue

 

When experienced pilots make the kind of mistake that appears to have caused the Air India crash it means their judgment was impaired. The plane, reportedly, landing well past the designated touchdown zone. A pilot is supposed to discontinue the landing if the zone is passed. There is rarely any reason for impairment other than fatigue. But airlines push pilots into fatigue routinely, expecting that they, in spite of fatigue, will be able to get the plane from point a to point b without mishap. Struggling to compete, airlines push pilots to be on duty for extended lengths of time, often at odd hours, or with multiple takeoffs and landings. Almost all the time, the airlines get away with it. And so it continues.

 

Supporting fatigue as the issue in this accident, the following remarks by a pilot were published by the Times of India.

 

"It does not matter how many days rest he got prior to these flights that he operated. He took off from Calicut on Friday night for Dubai and then came to Mangalore. The entire operation was done at night, during circadian low. His alertness level at the end of that 9-10 hour night duty surely would not have been very high."

 

See the article at this link.

 

Researchers reported that people who drove after being awake for 17-19 hours performed worse than those with a blood alcohol level of .05 percent, which is often the legal limit for drunk driving. See this link.

 

How can a smart passenger avoid flights that might mean fatigued pilots? 

• Avoid Early Morning Flights. If a pilot has to do a 6 AM departure, he has to check in at operations by 5 AM which means picking up the crew bus from the parking lot between 4:20 and 4:40. And that means leaving home one to two hours before that.
  
  

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  Avoid Evening Domestic Flights. If a pilot who checked in at 5 AM is still on duty at 7 PM, you don't want to fly with him. A one hour domestic flight at 7 PM (or later) could be assigned to pilots who are tired after a long day of flying or sitting around between flights. Since few domestic flights originate before 7 AM, a one hour domestic flight at 6 PM or earlier is unlikely to be flown by a pilot who has been on duty more than twelve hours.
  Long international flights that depart in the evening are not a problem. Federal regulations do not allow a two-pilot crew to fly more than eight hours, so a long flight means fresh pilots who are just coming on duty. A flight longer than eight hours requires an extra pilot so each pilot can take rest during the flight. 
  
  
  

• October 19, 2004. 7:37 PM. AmericanConnection (Corporate Airlines) crash near Kirksville. Investigation found fatigue likely.

The following accident took place very early in the morning.

• 
  August 27, 2006. 6:07 AM. Delta Connection (Comair)
  crash at Lexington, Kentucky. Judgment was clearly impaired, as the pilots tried to take off on the wrong runway, one that was too short. This was shortly before dawn. The runway was not lighted. If the pilots could see the runway, they should have easily seen it was too short. But the fact that the runway was unlighted should have been a clue.

If the question remains because you have to fly early or late, what can you do? Actually, it's pretty simple. Meet the captain. If its a late flight, ask how long he or she has been on duty. If it is an early flight, ask how much sleep they got.

 

And don't think of driving as a safer alternative. Wikipedia says 80,000 drivers fall asleep behind the wheel every day.

 

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Dancing With The Stars (Chip & Dale)

 

Hi Tom,

 

I just want to share with you about my recent flight to Florida & back.

 

In the beginning I was nervous, about take off, I listened to the program and practiced the strengthening exercise as well as the 54321. The 54321 helped with anxiety at the boarding area and prior, in fact I was impressed as to how quickly it took effect.  The strengthening exercise made me smile as I cupped my hand next to my heart and thought of my special moment. But I must admit the nervousness kept returning. We flew out on a night flight to Atlanta and over Kansas, Oklahoma & Tennessee  due to tornado activity, the pilot said we would experience turbulence ,but that the first two hours would be good.  Well.. the flight went as expected, and two hours into the flight the turbulence rocked the plane.  The water in the cup was splashing, and it was more turbulence than I have experienced before. But once into Atlanta it improved and all was well.

 

From Atlanta to Tampa it was a good flight pretty smooth. I met the pilots of three flights but not the final one.

 

On our return trip from Tampa to Atlanta I was nervous again and met the co-pilot. He asked me if there was anything in particular that bothered me ,and I confessed that there was. I told him that the idea of the engines stopping  while in the air bothered me, and he took the time to talk about it, and his experience etc. After that I never gave it a second thought. On our return flight our flight from Tampa was late getting into Atlanta, so we had to run to catch our flight on time. When we arrived at the plane I knew there was no time to meet the pilot, and although my husband handed the flight attendant the letter, I let her know I knew there was no time. And I was actually fine with that. I wasn't nervous, or fearful. I opened my book and started reading and read all the way to the border of Washington/Idaho. Then turned on the satellite television ,and watched it until we arrived in Seattle. There was turbulence over the Rocky Mountains, but it wasn't anything like what we experienced over the tornado states the previous week. And the pilot told us he was sorry about it, but to keep our seat belts on, and it would be over in a few miles.

 

What I learned: When I engage my mind in an activity, there is no time to think about the "what if's". Sometimes my mind wandered, and I would have to bring myself back  to what I was doing. And in that alone, I learned that the "what if's" really do happen, however, I have control over that. The "what if's" doesn't mean that my flight is doomed, it means that my mind is wandering, and to get back on track.   And that it is okay to share with the pilot what is bothering me about the flight even if it is my imagination, because he can help steer me past that. Knowledge is power.  I learned that the 54321 was very impressive with it's ability to reduce anxiety, and that the strengthening exercise actually brought a smile to my face when I thought of my special moment.   I learned that takeoff is really okay, and the pilot knows what he is doing. After all they want to get home to their families too.

 



I look at it this way, and I believe that it was said in SOAR somewhere along the line, please correct me if I am wrong: I choose to board the plane, I choose to fly, and because it is my choice and no one is forcing me to fly, I am not a victim.  That is huge, because when I realized that yes, this is my choice I felt power in that statement.  I thought that I wouldn't experience those feelings of anxiety again.  But I did, but what is so wonderful is that I am flying, I can travel and have fun in my life.  And it is my choice, no matter what. And although in life we have no guarantees on earth, or in the skies, I will continue to fly, have fun and be thankful that you founded the SOAR program. Because without it (As I have said before) I never would have flown on a plane. Because I thought getting on a plane would be certain death.  And yes, we all will die someday, but it is important to live until that time. And I choose to live.  And Tom, it is because of SOAR that I could dance in the Disney World Parade with Chip & Dale and as silly as that sounds I had fun! Thank you once again.

 

And because of the inspiration of SOAR I went back to school  two years ago, to obtain my BA in Psychology. Well, two weeks ago I graduated with my BA in Psych, and have been accepted into the Masters Program ,where I plan to earn a Master of Arts degree with an emphasis in marriage & family therapy.  You never know how, or where you may inspire or speak into the life of another person. For me it has been a journey, and it isn't over yet.

 

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SOAR Will Work For You Too

Even if you are doubtful, SOAR nevertheless works. This is because we, with the help of brain scan research that showed us how the mind works, broke the code on flight anxiety, claustrophobia, and panic.

 

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