TCX NCL and thoughts on 'tiredness'
I see on R&N 'excuses' being offered as mitigating for the events due to a 'long duty day'. I can only wonder if crews of today have possibly lost the ability to manage 'these' days? I recall the CAA position in my aviation time - that I was expected to be not only fit for the rostered duty at report but also expected to be fit enough to exercise maximum discretion if required. And yes, I have been 'knackered' at times.
There are many ways to alleviate the inevitable 'tiredness', but yes, folks, it is understood that you WILL be tired at the end of a long duty day, but it is expected you will 'manage' your tiredness. Some of the ways are:
to take a 'nap' when possible - even 20 minutes can be fantastic
to brief it so PM is aware
to 'slow things down' at the end (take an extra 10 track miles, configure early etc etc) and make full use of the automatics where possible. I am not sure how they went slicing through the LOC but that would not have helped, and it is then possible that PM was left floundering as PF may have done the 'one-armed paper hangar' act to re-establish, and would not be well-placed to assist with a screwed-up G/A.
What say the massed bands?