Cockpit nap allowed?

[PifPaf]

Hi folks,

Recently I attended a seminar where a guy said that in some companies (mainly during long flights) it is allowed to take a nap in the cockpit (1 pilot @ time, of course:ok: )
He said that this procedure is even included in the SOP manuals.
Does your company permit (or recommend) it? Which are the restrictions?

PP

[HPSOV]

Yep, 'Controlled Rest' is approved for flights where no relief pilot/s is/are carried. Only to be used on sectors longer than 2 hours, only during cruise, only after consideration of weather, airmanship, etc etc (it goes on). Periods should not exceed 30 minutes per crew member once per sector, with an additional 10 minutes required before resuming flight deck duties.

I swear it used to mention that the cabin crew have to be briefed as well, but I cant find reference to it. In either case our ops manual states that cabin crew must contact the flight deck every 30 mins to ensure we're awake and happy.

[*Lancer*]

Considering that noone I fly with ever gets to use 'controlled rest' ( :D ), does it actually work HPSOV? (seriously)

Lancer

[john_tullamarine]

.. anyone who admits to human failing and has done extensive back of the clock ops will acknowledge that a disciplined cruise snooze is a smart move .... in times prior to the more pragmatic and enlightened approach seen these days it was not uncommon to find crews scheduling a snooze so that all were reasonably alert during the approach and landing .....

It is not a pretty sight to see the reaction when PF nods off during the landing flare entry ...... it certainly has happened on more than a few occasions ... not too sure whether I ought to admit to having been the hapless party on one such occasion ...

I can recall one flight ... four cockpit crew ... and, following dreadful rest period conditions during a multi-tour, minimum rest period sort of trip, I happened to wake up during the climb during the last leg (not even being aware that I had nodded off) to find that I was the ONLY ONE awake .... now that was a bit sobering ...

Think about it ... fatigue is a most dreadful and insidious enemy ... doesn't matter what sort of machinery you operate or work you do. Thinking that we can make it go away is silly .. doesn't work that way ... the only effective strategy is sensible body clock scheduling (which, of course, is ignored) with backups of good rest prior to launch (which, of course, is easier desired than achieved) and, as a last ditch rearguard action, the cruise snooze.

There are obvious difficulties with two-crew operations but, even then, judicious use of cabin crew and/or alarm clocks can assist.

At the end of the day (flight) most accidents occur during the approach and landing ... not the cruise ...

[stargazer02]

I jumpseated home across the pond one time on ATA and one of their crew members was asleep. The captain explained that he was the guy who was going to land the plane at the destination and that they would generally wake him up 1hr before arrival or just at the top of descent so that after a long haul atleast 1 of them would be alert and have quicker responses should it be required...i.e in a go around.
I thought it was a good idea myself rather than having 3 very tired heads on the approach in a howling wind and CAT III conditions...you atleast had 1 person who was more alert than the others.:ok: :cool: :O ;) :p

[Capt BK]

As a wannabe currently in a non aviation industry I have to say that it's good to hear that some employers take the issue of fatiuge seriously!

My employer still takes the attitude of any sleep to be a sackable offence. I work in a large control room for a chemical company which at its busiest can have 30-40 people in it. Even when it's 3am, the job is steady (similar in a way to the middle of the cruise) and when a team member is sat next to you its not nice to know that officially you could be out the door if the bodys natural tedancies take over.

Luckily we work in a fairly close team and look after each other when managers are not around - it's amazing how large an effect on performance even a 15min snooze can have. The fire brigade have acknowledged that fact for years. It's not as if when alarms start going off any pilot/technician/firefighter is going to turn over and ignore it!:*

[Gerund]

In the non-airline multi-crew ops I have flown it has been pretty standard to take a nap when tired. Amazing how it freshens you up. "Wake me up at top of descent" seems eminently reasonable to me, as long as the other pilot isn't feeling dopey himself. I will refrain from posting piccies of pilots asleep at the controls!!

Let's face it, over half an hour in the cruise is like over half an hour on the motorway - those eyelids can start drooping! And once they do.....

[Otterman]

The concept of a short nap has been proven by research done by NASA. It found that naps as short as 20 minutes enhanced performance. There was no added effect if the nap was longer than 45 minutes, until a full sleep cycle could be completed (around 3 hours). Our company has a rule in place that a NASA nap is allowed. Of course good coordination is required before you nod off. It is a good thing I believe, I don't use it very often, but after a lousy sleep and another Atlantic crossing it is a great option to have. Much preferred to the usual fighting against the impulse to do what we humans should be doing at that time of night.:zzz:

There is quite a bit of reading material out there on this subject but right from the horses mouth it can be read (or downloaded in PDF) from http://olias.arc.nasa.gov/zteam/fcp/FCP-history-crs.html .
Regards O,

[Taildragger67]

The 'power nap' much favoured by anyone who's ever worked a night shift. Agree with those who say it's incredible what 15-20 mins of Zs can do. Also agree that co-ordination is important - and also getting back-up (eg. asking CC to bring a cup of coffee in 20 mins is a good way to ensure you both get a caffeine shot and that in 20 mins, there will be an independent alert in case both dose off) in case colleague also gets hit by the flight deck white noise. Tell the CC why, and betcha they'll be there in 20mins 15 secs.

One personal procedure I've heard of, irrespective of asking a colleague to awaken the sleeper, is to get out a travel alarm & set it for 20 mins (ie. the nap period) - then you've got triple redundancy of colleague, CC and clock. And usually a nice warm cuppa waiting when you wake up!!

[Dan Winterland]

I once worked for an company which stated that it was permissable to take 'Cat Naps' while in the seat. Not quite sure of the definition of a 'Cat Nap', I observed my own pet cat for a day. It transpired that a 'Cat Nap' involved sleeping on top of the central heating boiler for 22 hours out of 24!