FTL Limits Busted = Pilots Fatigued, Aircraft Broken and Passengers Dead
When will the industry wake up - why is damage control always so reactive, accepting change only after people end up dead??
It's pretty obvious that individual performance decays with the sort of rostering, flying hours and fatigue management practices that go on throughout the industry, and particularly in the Middle East. We will kill more people in this business as a result of the way it is run, particularly here - it's not a question of if, but when.
Fly Dubai may or may not be the latest fatigue-related accident, time and (maybe) the accident report will tell.
The reality is ladies and gents, that the operators and regulators have shown themselves consistently unwilling, unable and uninterested in combatting the issue. That leaves one entity (excusing the media's valiant attempts) - ourselves. For goodness sake, and for the sake of your passengers and crew, know when to say STOP. Whether it is on a monthly, annual or daily basis, we have to realise that the final protection in the system is us in the flight deck.
It's not right, it's not fair, it's morally and ethically abhorrent, but ultimately we are all gifted the opportunity to save lives in this business...... Sounds dramatic, but we sure have the ability to lose lives by getting it wrong. May God, or whoever your chosen overseer is, give us all the sense (and whatever remaining mental faculties we may have left) to use that gift wisely when the time comes.