Aircrews are at the end of their tether
For the benefit of those who do not read the Daily Telegraph, the following letter to the editor was published today in the prime spot:
Aircrews are at the end of their tether.
SIR- While answering allegations that British troops are poorly equipped for the Afghan winter, the Prime Mininster stated on Wednesday that our forces are among the best trained and equipped in the world.
The aircrews operating over Afghanistan lauded in your report "Britain's flying tankers hailed as a godsend" (report. Nov 10), are accommodated in tents on an airport about 50 yards from an active runway. Tents are shared between 16, and the runway is in use 24 hours a day.
Although modern aircraft are relatively quiet machines, the converted airliners of yesteryear that our crews have to make do with are amongst the noisiest in service, and the tents are not noted for their sound-deadening qualities. These conditions, while occaiasionally necessary when working in the field, are unacceptable when suitable accommodation is available nearby.
Flying an airliner is, at times, a highly skilled and deamnding job, which is why commercial airlines accommodate their crews in rooms well insulated from both sound and light, a small price to pay in view of the possible consequences. The effects of fatigue on flight safety have been well researched; indeed they should be clear to anyone who has tried to complete an effective day's work after a night of fitful rest. |The demands and stresses involved in operating an ageing converted airliner, leading large formations of aircraft around an exceedingly busy piece of sky, are obvious. All this is done while regularly being shot at. Given the fatigue built up over days and weeks without a decent night's sleep, the potential for disaster may be easily imagined.
So far we have been lucky. The Taliban have been unable to shoot down any of our aircraft, and low-level, fatigue-related incidents have not yet resulted in accidents, though I hear there have been a few close calls. Should the unthinkable happen in the ensuing weeks and months, I fear it will not come from enemy fire, but from an accidednt of the worst kind: one that we saw coming, could have prevented and did nothing about.