Pilots dozing whilst flying

[sirius3]

Any truth in the sensational news regarding the bit about the pilots zipping past their destination as they were sleeping. I can understand the fatigue after a night flight but both dozing off is hard to imagine. Yes faulty communication could be a factor.... I suppose the unions or associations in India should file a suit of libel against the media for such a baseless attack with malafide intent on the pilots. Infact the Company should take up their case with the media..... I can imagine the losses if they dont.... any news on this.:ugh:

[Sky Dancer]

well you heard right..the boys dozed off after a hard night's work...the radio failure theory is ..well not exactly true..I guess we'll know the truth in a couple of weeks..

[NVpilot]

This problem happens everywhere, the current regulations in force must be modified.

[9M-WKS]

u can squawk radio failure code on the transponder

[ikan_terbang]

Sleeping is OK. Just manage the sleep pattern and time.
A 30 min snooze is perfect to recharge the body

[veloo maniam]

Dozing off while flying is nothing new.
Maybe a simple CCTV which can only be seen
by the leading steward may help out.
what surprises me is that Mumbai
is a busy sector and yet (as the media says) pilots
dozed off. Let us wait for the investigation to end.:ok:

[CAT IIIB]

We do have "Pilot alert" wake up call on the Boeing....

Maybe the pilots are smokers.All they need is a recharge of nicotine...
Hey,this is a safety issue here...

[sirius3]

As I recall, the Mumbai airspace is indeed quite hectic. Did these guys commence their descent and overshoot the BBB VOR or did they continue past the BBB maintaining their cruising level.... yes a safety issue....:confused:

[masalama]

Ok here's the new R/T failure procedures for mumbai, as usual Air-India pilots get the latest update from DGCA through their hotline....

1.Do Not Squawk 7600-- interferes with Radar display at mumbai due to proximity of unauthorized hutments.
2.Maintain final cruising altitude and arrive over destination at flight plan Altitude.
3.Do not respond to multiple calls on another frequency ...due to bogus 123.4 calls from Low cost pilots.
4.Proceed to GGO (Goa VOR) , expect to descend to Initial approach Altitude and position for ILS 26 .look out for light signals at nearest resort.
5. Contact ATC on landline within 36 hours after check in at said resort.

do not worry folks, latest AIC will come to your flight operations department, in the meantime , keep a close watch on your radio sets.
masalama.

[urgood]

you are being paid to fly a commercial plane! wake up!:ugh::rolleyes:

[air_cowboy]

my suspicious mind's take on the whole ordeal is that it is all a plot to get the NASA researched FDTL back into place. As IC Union had decided to take the matter of the FDTL to court, voila! ..there is ur proof mr. judge. And as u see in todays TOI it may just have worked....

[Aeronotix]

‘‘The larger public interest and even the safety of flights and pilots were literally thrown to the winds, on the dictates of the civil aviation minister, to protect the financial and other interests of a few wealthy airline operators.’’ With these strong words, the Bombay high court on Tuesday stayed a recent circular issued by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that essentially curbed crucial rest hours between flight duty for pilots and the cockpit crew.

Now its back to the FDTL CAR of 2007. The above observation by the judges clearly shows up DGCA & the ministry and how they bend backwards to please their masters at any cost!

Good victory for the pilots.

Aeronotix:ok:

[standman]

you are being paid to fly a commercial plane! wake up!

Well and good if you were a little mechanical man. Fatigue can often be unavoidable, yet a dozing pilot is still regarded as unacceptable. IMHO, honesty is the best policy. If you truly cannot combat the need to sleep, get one of the flight attendants to keep an eye on the other guy while you recharge yourself. I believe at least one major airline has a written policy to this effect.

[Panama Jack]

We have this type of napping policy written into policy at our airline (a major airline outside of India). Controlled rest is permitted under certain preconditions, and does a lot to help control fatigue and to refresh for when we need to be most alert (namely for the descent and landing).

A problem that remains worldwide is flight duty time periods, most of which have been arbitrarily set (not based on any types of scientific studies) or that have been driven by commercial factors.

[rdr]

Controlled napping has been going on for years amongst the long haul guys, and for possibly, millions of flights with practically negligible side effects.

It always takes one or two precious few to spoil things for the rest.
I would not read too much into the indiscipline of one or two who malign the entire industry.

If there was a problem, there would be far more incidents with others who work to much much harder FDTL's around the world.

Yes they are pilots just like i am, but does that make them above common sense or the rules?

[netfreak]

Napping while flapping has been around for sometime.

This might be interesting to watch. YouTube - Investigation: Go! Airline Flight Loses Communication (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkAROrj2v3U)