Why the sudden coyness and / or outrage that somebody on a flight deck should be asleep ? Planned naps are quite common , and very beneficial to alertness after the nap . Why should somebody have to be so 'fit' that they can fly 2 nights in a row -very common , often unable to have long natural sleep before such flights , and why would a normal person not be wanting to sleep in the graveyard shift ( ie 2-5 am which a lot of operators in the Gulf and India force on their crews ?
We plan such naps , only after discussion about who os the most rested etc , and our Cabin crew are chiming every 20 minutes anyway . I personally feel a whole lot better after even a 10 min power-nap . I do not think that it is a good idea to sleep too long of course , and I am sure the deceased Captain did not sleep for 3 hours ?
I think that expecting an exhausted , sleep deprived pilolt to struggle along without a nap is asking for trouble . You try ringing crewing and saying 'I cannot fly tonight , my baby has colic ' more than once !
The whole aspect of night-flights and fatigue is ignored by all airline bosses . I am astounded to see one poster above saying that a medically-fit pilot would not need to sleep at all.