Before the tragedy at LIT Arkansas, the US FAA never had a required rest period for standby/reserve crews with multiple days on duty, except for 24 hours off in each 7 days. The pressure from the airlines or the White House was difficult to resist. Who appoints the top FAA Administrator? How about the Secretary of Transportation? No-not Congress. No-not the judicial branch.
Let's combine that older reality (which lasted decades) with the fact that any company can stretch/explode your 16 hour duty period (consecutive hours with no rest) by adding a long reposition or a series of ferry flights before or after the very long duty period. Some crews have worked, whether on DC-8s, 727s or Learjets etc for up to 24-30 hours or more with no rest period. You either say something to Crew Scheduling, for example: "yes sir, I can 'hack' (handle) the mission!" and continue with unsafe working periods, along with the rest of your company peers, or you leave or get fired/sacked. But civilian aviation, working for pax and freight airlines, is not a military rescue mission (i.e. Khe San). My apologies to the very brave (CAT) C-119 pilots who died when under fire at Dien Bien Phu etc.
Check out the NTSB's primary cause for the freight airline DC-8 crash at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This primary cause (fatigue) was reportedly a first for the NTSB. And it was not many years ago that the NTSB finally summed up the courage to publish such a conclusion.
One cpompany operated twin-turbofan jets, and when an engine flamed-out, they simply demanded a lower altitude and restarted it...too much checking of maintenance records and aircraft logbooks would result. But a pilot who correctly declared an emergency would be in serious trouble with the owner (fired), an infamous former race car driver, who once flew a Learjet solo and told the FAA Inspector that he did not need an FO. Other frieght companies were not better. At a company on the east coast, an emergency might NOT be declared, even in a DC-6 during approach with an engine fire. If a tower controller asked whther everything was ok, they just say "roger". The pilot's present company will remain anonymous. Our "Friends" at the FAA turned many blind eyes to these realities. Not all, but some of them. A Line Inspector's concerns can be overruled by his supervisor.
But many newer civilian pilots are unable or unwilling to distinguish between a mission and a civilian job...because they generally like the work, feel a strong need to prove and challenge themselves, and need it to pay bills or enhance their resumes/CV. The male ego in a peer setting can work wonders, or lead to tragedy. Some will work any terrible schedule because they can tell attractive women "well..I fly jets". Some of those types tend to be the type who, in order to inflate their own egos at any bottom-dollar salary, will scab a picket line in order to wear an airline jet uniform. For example, as a very young guy said before he scabbed at Continental in '83 (he later became Stan. Eval. with an AFRES C-130B squadron), "I want an airline job so bad I can taste it". It's all about me (ME).
An accident while flying freight will never sell newspapers and attract the attention of Congress unless women and children (it makes "good copy") on the ground die as a result. Check into the hull loss insurance ' pay off ' for each jet airliner, just for a B-737 or MD-83. Fatalities are considered part of the game by many upper mgmts. The media relish such opportunities and find it lucrative during 'rating $weeps'. $alve Lucrum!
