Jetdriver,
Quarterback has summed it far more eloquently than I did.
Yes I did mean the comments tongue-in-cheek, but as said by Qb, I agree wholeheartedly why FTL is there, but also for the exact reasons mentioned by Quarterback - do you not think it would be a good idea for ops/crewing to have similar limits ?
European law (I belive) gives a maximum of 8-hr shifts - we do 12hrs! Don't get me wrong - I don't mind, I've known nothing else for the last 16 years in aviation - but your brain can only take so much ! Wibble.
Again, I agree completely about not wanting a fatigued crew member onboard. Enough can go wrong when you're fully awake, let alone totally knackered. We in ops & crewing do need to be very carefull when requesting crews go into discretion, without adding the pressure onto the crew member to go that few miles too far with regard to alertness. Point taken Jetdriver.
It's also refreshing to hear that co-operation between ops & the crew is needed to get the job done. IMHO there is far too much of an 'us and them' policy. After all - we're all trying to get the same result.
[This message has been edited by ghost-rider (edited 07 September 1999).]