I am wondering if Sleep Inertia is being considered and factered into the Fatigue Mangement Systems currently being adopted into the Flight and Duty management systems?
I recall it (Sleep Inertia) being a significant factor in an EMS Helicopter accident in central QLD a few years back.
I quote from the local newspaper report- "A central QLD rescue helicopter crashed killing all three crew and two patients on board has been linked to a dangerous but little known sleep-related condition which can affect a pilot's performance". Un quote.
The condition is also known as sleep drunkenness
Refers to a person's inability to perform at their best after they have woken from a sleep.
When a person awakes normally sleep inertia's effects are believed to last for less than five minutes. But when they are awoken abruptly, sleep inertia's effects have been identified as "typically lasting up to 30min, but possibly in ecess of one hour.
The condition can interfere with the reaction time, performance accuracy and decision making.
I am wondering if there is any fixes for this complaint or how to identify if a crewmember is suffering from this. This is surely a CRM issue as well. I have never seen it mentioned on any CRM course I've undertaken ever. How new is this discovery?
Burger
