Macaskill 1: You might not be interested in US airline operations. If not, then disregard these remarks.
I can't remember the British version of our NTSB (Nat'l Tran. Safety Board), which investigates major transportation accidents. The first aircraft accident, whereby the NTSB pointed to crew fatigue as the primary factor, concerns a cargo DC-8 crash at G'mo Bay NAS, Cuba, several or more years ago. Crew fatigue is very common, but it must have been a bit severe, based on the crew's last sleep period, which was before a long night. The Naval Air Station (where the Taliban prisoners are housed) is known as a very demanding place to approach, due to the requirement to make a last minute turn onto final approach, because of the surrounding Cuban territory.
It was strange that the NTSB finally admitted in a public record, what we pilots (and FAs) have always known is commonplace in our industry-in passenger and cargo ops. The cargo aircraft accidents are rarely noticed by the public, and we all know what types of topics create "good copy".
Our FAA 'guardian angels', for the first time in history, only began to require planned rest periods (lasting for a solid 8 hours!) for pilots who with have several days of consecutive 24-hour reserve/standby duty, because of the MD-83 tragedy in Little Rock. Hence its infamous nickname, "the Tombstone Agency": assuming that there is something big enough to be buried.
Have the British (or Irish, French, Dutch, German, Swiss...) "NTSB" ever ruled that fatigue was a major contributor to an airline accident over there? There must be plenty of hazardous airports over there, even in good weather, and not just in the Alps etc
Last edited by Ignition Override; 2nd Feb 2003 at 04:23.