Snoozing on flights helps tired pilots
MUMBAI: Capt Z Glusica, the commander of the Air India Express flight that crashed in Mangalore, was asleep for over an hour after the ill-fated flight took off from Dubai. While that may seem unthinkable and counter intuitive to flyers, it did not raise brows in the court of inquiry hearings, held this week in Delhi, as scientific studies have long proved that the practice of pilots taking naps in turns during a flight leads to higher levels of physiological alertness. Several foreign airlines encourage it and last year, Air India had written to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) urging that controlled rest in cockpit be made legal in India.
Taking a nap in the cockpit is strictly prohibited by the Indian regulator. But airlines in India have long tuned into international studies that have established that a short, controlled nap only leads to better flight safety. One of the first studies on this subject was done in 1990 when NASA compared performance of pilots who were allowed to take naps to those who weren't. The researchers found that pre-planned cockpit rest resulted in better behavioural and physiological alertness. In the last four-five years, several foreign airlines like British Airways and Qantas took a fresh perspective after scientific studies proved the positive effects of cockpit napping (during low-activity periods) on air safety. These airlines have formulated strict guidelines on controlled rest during flights.
This practice, pilots say, is common in India and abroad, especially on long-haul flights in the night. " Air Canada and some carriers in Australia are allowed to take controlled naps, lasting 35-40 minutes. We had written to the DGCA last year asking that it should be allowed in India,'' said Capt V Kulkarni, training in-charge, Air India Express in his deposition before the court of inquiry. Some co-pilots who deposed before the court too spoke about flights where they took "short periods of rest with eyes shut'' in turns. "Then we have coffee,'' said a co-pilot.
Capt A Ranganathan, an air safety expert said that cockpit napping should be allowed. "The pilot rest rules followed in India were formulated in 1992 when there were no ultra-long haul flights and few late-night multi-sector flights to operate. But now, controlled rest in cockpits should be allowed as napping is an excellent fatigue-mitigation tool,'' he said.
It was probably for these reasons that no one raised brows when in the court of inquiry into Mangalore crash it was revealed that the cockpit voice recorder recovered from the wreckage played sounds of snoring and heavy breathing in the first 100 minutes after the flight took off from Dubai late in the night. During this period, only the first officer's voice was heard. If anything, the commander's nap only raised questions about the out-dated pilot rest rules followed by airlines in India.
Though International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had set a deadline for its member countries to implement scientifically back pilot rest rules, India has not yet complied to the order. The only aspect that the Indian regulator has looked into is the possibility of both pilots falling asleep at controls. Following an incident in India some years ago and a couple of them in US, the DGCA introduced a norm wherein flight attendants have to check on the pilots every half-an-hour during low-activity periods in the cockpit.
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