Pilot who fell asleep at controls was allowed to continue his shift
theaustralian.com.au
A pilot who fell asleep while operating a cargo flight in Tasmania had been awake for 24-hours prior to the incident.
An Australian Transport Safety Bureau report into the incident, which occurred on November 8 last year, found the pilot was “acutely fatigued to a level affecting performance”.
Despite his lack of sleep, the pilot flew from Moorabbin in Victoria to Devonport, Tasmania, had a three-hour break, then headed off again to fly to King Island.
During the flight he nodded off, waking up to find he was almost 80km past his destination.
From 7.25am to 7.33am, air traffic control tried to contact the pilot without a response.
The ATSB report said at 7.33am a transmission was received from the pilot who advised that operations were normal.
He landed the Piper PA-31 at King Island at 7.55am and contacted his supervisor and air traffic control in Melbourne to discuss what happened.
Despite the in-flight nap, the pilot was allowed to finish his shift, flying from King Island back to Moorabbin.
The ATSB investigation found the pilot recalled not feeling fatigued before the morning flight which was his first after five days off.
During the three hour break at Devonport, the pilot said he rested but didn’t sleep.
“From the information reported by the pilot, it was determined that at the time of the occurrence, the pilot had been awake for about 24-hours,” said the report.
“Using the information obtained at interview and the pilot’s roster, fatigue analysis was conducted, which identified that the pilot was acutely fatigues to a level known to affect performance.”
The report took aim at operator, Vortex Air, pointing out that “despite knowing the circumstances of the incident, no measures were put in place to ensure the pilot was fit to continue the shift”.
“This resulted in the pilot continuing to fly the aircraft while still being fatigued to a level known to affect performance,” said the report.
Vortex Air managing director Colin Tucker said he spoke to the pilot on the ground that morning, and he assured him he was fine to fly.
He described the incident as a “tiny blip” that had caused considerable damage to the company despite its “exemplary safety record”.
“We’ve been flying for 15-years and it damages your brand. It’s a competitive air space we fly in,” Mr Tucker said.
He said the pilot was badly affected by publicity surrounding the incident but had returned to flying and was doing well.
“If you’ve been on leave for five days before a shift, there’s nothing as an organisation we could’ve done,” said Mr Tucker, adding the pilot was aware of his roster before he went on leave.
Changes had since been made to the rostering system to provide more notice for pilots but Mr Tucker said occasionally last minute changes were necessary.
"exemplary safety record" as in like Qantas?
