Jimmy said:
If they need a nap there should be a three pilot crew at least.
Human performance immediately after waking is probably at its bottom.
A two crew aircraft doesn't mean one sleeping crew and one awake.
How would a sleeping f/o know that captain has become incapacitated?
I know its unlikely, but that should not be an excuse for sleeping, no power nap or meditation. Its not a regular office.
You would be surprised to find my friend jimmy that many airlines around the world have already authorized and it's part of their SOP's short naps in flight and I'm not talking bunk beds but two man crew ops.
It's called strategic napping and has been found very effective through a great number of studies , most notably NASA/FAA on alertness managemet ...here's an excerpt from the findings:
"One effective alertness strategy needs further discussion given the context of this article. An extensive scientific literature exists of laboratory studies demonstrating that naps can improve alertness and performance. A NASA study extended these findings to operational settings by examining planned naps in pilots during actual flight operations. Results from the NASA study showed that a short, 40-minute planned nap resulted in a 34% improvement in performance and a 100% improvement in alertness. In real-world 24/7 operational settings, planned naps can be a critical strategy to address the spontaneous and uncontrolled sleep episodes that are known to occur."
This article and others like it showing how airlines/regulators around the world are addressing sleep/fatigue /alertness management issues head on are available on the net , if interested .
I'm not saying that fatigue was the sole reason for this accident but it could be a contributing factor .Decision-making and problem solving skills go for a toss when the body/mind are tired , the earlier that airlines/regulators wake up to this the safer our skies will be.Do we know the sleep/rest history of the two pilots involved and what was the sequence of flights before the accident one?
How can pilots help? Don't fly if you know you haven't had proper rest/sleep , try to be disciplined about getting that proper rest at home, layovers etc....I don't think any airline in India would fire somebody if he reports in sick genuinely due improper rest/sleep as long as it's not a chronic recurring problem... I've been lucky so far as it's mainly domestic ops at our airline with no flying on the back of the clock...keeping my fingers crossed.
masalama
