as long as sleeping pills and also antihystamine are part of the job of a pilot , coz of jet lag and other personal disease, I believe theat they can be assumed with a lot of precautions....i.e. no alchool, lot of hours before etc.
Unfortunately in a lot of new company (don't know if this is the case) exploit crews at the maximum, so if someone sufferrs of some of the over mention disease, has no material time to leave the effect goes by.
It is a bad situation that is becoming most common expecially after deregulation and use of pilots "h 24".
Not everyone has the strenght to cope with certain rythm and someone has to assume antihyistamine as a doctor prescription...... I think this phenomena will increase more and more up to other crashes....so the fault can be done all on pilots!
But remember that pilots are human and even if they know that the use of these drugs must be limited during the stop overs...well...who still has stop overs and REAL crew rest????
Or maybe , if one assume smtg should remain at home with the incubus of being expelled from the company?Aren't these disease as headahche or similar that must be cured?
After deregulation I noticed a great increase in the use of this kind of drugs...not to praise certainly but seems that sleep problems are not pilots problems...and this is a non sense!
Surely one must be follow by a physician and do not diy! but as long as the phenomena is increasing, I think that fatigue, insomnia and similar should be emphasized during CRM and Human Factor courses, remember that a lot of people is really unaware of secondary effects of antisthamynic! If u sum this to the pressure and hurry pilots are subjected nowadays - and I am absolutely not speaking of alcohol! - with the quickness, more and more of turn arounds in short range or hours and hours in long range, the effect could be disastrous!
Anyway, statistically...how many accidents are due to pilote dizziness because of a pill instead of other kind of disguides?
FAA JARs and all other institution involved should made a lot of attention before charging pilots who works too much because there is a lack of qualifyed people and much better would be explain them thedangers of these kind of pills, taken from a chemistry or from a drugstore
does anyone want to come back to amphetamine or cocaine to stay awake???????
Skunkie