Is there a British/Irish/JAR limitation which is equivalent to that in the US FAR 121 section? For domestic flying, we can perform flight duty up to a maximum of 30 hours (block time) in any 7 consecutive days. We must have 24 hours off during each seven day period. Because of the MD-80 accident in Little Rock (AR), even crews on reserve/standby now have a designated, solid, 8-hour "rest" period in each 24 hours. and if any domestic crew exceeds 8 hours actual block time, then the minimum 'rest' period goes from 8 to 9 hours (this can include walking thru airport, riding to and from the hotel, a quick shower and the thorough, by-the-book preflight! Unless you have a union, which might negotiate a 10 hour 'rest' period for all but a very few 'special' overnights).
Our long haul crews in a two-person cockpit are limited to 8 hours scheduled, without an extra crewmember (who knows, maybe we will have type-rated FOs soon...?).
For three-person US cockpits, I have no idea how the reg. is written for long-haul, but you should read about the exhausting nightmares for some DC-10 crews at Sun Country, DC-8 crews at Evergreen...add on an empty ferry flight across the ocean and then our FAA claims that you are no longer on flight duty. Read about which warning was on the charts for aircraft who left the tiny gap between South Yemen and Ethiopian airspace years ago.
Let's not forget, or ignore the fact that until a Connie Kallita DC-8 crashed at G'mo Bay NAS, Cuba several years ago after a very long nighttime duty period, which began in Willow Run (YIP), MI, our NTSB (investigative branch of the DOT) had NEVER claimed (or had the courage to contradict the FAA's attorneys...) that fatigue was the primary factor in any US carrier accident. The FAA was always smug about the impossibility of finding fatigue during an autopsy, and its conflicting mandate was to indirectly subsidize airlines by not increasing their operating costs.
How about fatigue rulings "over there"?
Pleasant dreams fellow crewmembers: bonne nuit, lekker slapen, schlaft gut dort druben (also bestens mit einer Jungfrau?)...
