PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Airline Pilot Dozes With Inspector Aboard
Old 7th May 2004, 10:12
  #12 (permalink)  
oldanboldun
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Sydney,NSW,Australia
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Pilot Asleep

It is interesting that this post appears shortly after one about "commuting" or other activities prior to starting a tour of duty. It occurs to me that this pilot fell asleep shortly after the top of climb on a relatively short sector. Was it the first leg of a tour of duty or was it the last leg of a long day? If it was the former then there is no excuse!
I dont think that there is any thing wrong with one pilot having a "power nap" in cruise as long as the other pilot has been thoroughly briefed and the next hour or so of the flight is expected to be normal from a weather or operational point of view.
The fact that an Inspector was known to be on board causes me to wonder about the attitude of the Captain. The Inspector was perfectly within his rights to make a report on the incident as that was his duty. Perhaps by reporting matters such as this something may be done to address the matter of pilot fatigue. As a former long haul pilot I have been exposed to conditions of "extreme" fatigue and it is not a pretty picture. Fortunately aircraft are now more automated and therefore generally safer but the downside of this is complacency and lack of stimulii to keep one alert.
oldanboldun is offline