Medevac pilot falls asleep while flying???

[Sikpilot]

https://nypost.com/2019/08/12/medical-helicopter-pilot-may-have-fallen-asleep-with-patient-on-board/
A medical helicopter pilot in Boston is under investigation for allegedly falling asleep at the controls with a patient on board, according to a new report.The Federal Aviation Administration is probing whether the Boston MedFlight pilot snoozed in the cockpit while transporting someone from Martha’s Vineyard to a Boston hospital on June 24, according to a statement obtained by CBS Boston (https://boston.cbslocal.com/2019/08/09/faa-investigates-medflight-pilot-asleep-controls/). The pilot overflew the designated helipad, and fatigue was determined to be a factor, Boston MedFlight said a statement.“The transport was completed successfully and there were no injuries to the patient or flight crew,” CEO Maura Hughes said in the statement, adding that the pilot is no longer employed by the company.Boston MedFlight has started to work with fatigue management and safety consultants to review its policies and procedures, Hughes said.The company flies about 1,842 people in need of critical care in each year — averaging out to about five flights a day, according to its website.

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A sad state of affairs if they sacked him out of hand.

I hope they first looked at his work roster and hours awake as well as the time of the flight before taking action.

Flying at hours the body is designed to be asleep has long been a problem and needs careful management not disciplining.

[SASless]

Flying in the wee hours with the Autopilot driving on a long transit in West Texas could conducive to such a thing happening!

I am interested in hearing why the guy was fired in light of the company looking to revise its rules and policies.

[Devil 49]

I'm amazed it doesn't happen more often. HEMS ignores the human factors in scheduling routinely. Work days for a period, off 24 hours and go to night shifts? They pretend 'jet lag' hasn't been in the general vernacular for 60+ years. Circadian disruption, poor sleep, count the ways that that is stupid.

[SASless]

Remember the good old days when you could be tasked to fly News Gathering all day....and EMS all night?

The FAA still has not gotten on the band wagon to improve safety much in this regard.

[timprice]

The good thing is no one hurt, except the poor pilot as usual.
Perhaps they should have completed the investigation first before firing the pilot? or is there more to this story?

[alouette]

Human factors are always ignored, and if pilots point out fatigue they are ridiculed and ignored. Bravo to the grand management!!!! "oh yeah, safety is our top priority..." It's nothing but lip service!!!! And then one has to hear "we give you sufficient days off to be rested..." BULL****!!!!

[tottigol]

Each operator is coming up with inventive scheduling, like three days followed by four nights, then seven days off or viceversa.
The simple 7 day rotation, 7 days off, 7 nights rotations, 7 days off no longer seems to apply.
EMS helicopter flying has been around over 30 years, if they have not figured out circadian fatigue is because they really don’t care.
CFR 14 Part 135 is clear when it come to unscheduled on demand crew rest requirements, 10 hours uninterrupted over the last 24 hours.
Day or night you need to show up rested, but in reality many pilots elect to do differently and some even count on bad WX night to get their sleep.
5 flights per day is meaningless per se unless you take into account how many were completed during day or night shift, IFR or VFR, scene calls or inter hospital transfers and of course how long those flights were.
I could hit the border twice or three times a night and those could be 7 hours night unaided or IFR mix, but then once I got home I’d hit the sack at about the right time knowing it may be the same for the next six nights.
It really is up to the flightcrew’s sense of responsibility.

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Studies in the UK and elsewhere have identified that being fatigues due to broken sleep patterns is equivalent to drinking alcohol in terms of performance degradation

[JimEli]

Who benefits from a 12-hour work shift?

[SASless]

The key is for the Pilot to show up rested.

Studies have shown even modest amounts of sleep can prevent a "Sleep Deficit" situation from being present at the start of work.

When family matters, side jobs, or hobbies prevent you from getting even just a good nap before showing up for work occur....it makes for a long night.

I am one of those that loved really ugly weather nights where there was no chance of a call out.

I would brief the Dispatcher that unless there was a significant improvement to a specified minimum....there was no need to consider our departing but should there be a change in the weather to notify me immediately.

In the linked article there is a discussion about how the human brain reacts upon awakening from sleep....and suggests there is a 5-20 minute lag until being fully awake with "brain in gear".

I used to grab a half cup of coffee upon being awakened for a flight....sipped while checking the weather and planning the flight. The Heroes amongst the Med Crew thought that an unnecessary delay in getting airborne.

They did not grasp the coffee sipping ended upon completion of the weather check and flight planning....and not the other way around.



Having worked rotating shifts for years....I much preferred being on a permanent night shift over having frequent changes in my routine.

By working nights....usually the pace slowed down....I got my errands done on the way home....and I went to bed early in order to have a good sleep period immediately before going back to work.

An old Army Blanket over the bedroom window to block out the sunlight....AirCon on frosty....and life was good.

Being a single guy that worked fine....and on my off days....I was primed for the partying that went on until the wee hours of the morning.

The hard part was the two days off....and the first night back as my routine usually got messed up but was over quickly for the rest of the week.


https://hbr.org/2006/10/sleep-deficit-the-performance-killer

[Devil 49]

Studies in the UK and elsewhere have identified that being fatigues due to broken sleep patterns is equivalent to drinking alcohol in terms of performance degradation

Nothing related is mentioned at the largest US HEMS operator in training or any directive. Until a few years ago each base could set their own work schedule for local or crew conaiderations as long as duty periods were staggered program wide such that bases weren't changing crews simultaneously. Management changed all the local scheduling imposing a standard schedule: one could report on Monday for 3 days, a 24 hour break after signing out Wednesday, and 4 nights. The mirror image started 4 days on Thursday, 24 hours after the Sunday duty and 3 nights Monday-Wednesday. As weekends were the busy period for scenes the guy flying the 4 night period faced extra challenges.

I can't count the number of times the night pilot relieving me on days has told me that he had no sleep that day and was hoping for no callls so he could sleep, or that he had a full day planned and hoped the next night was slack. A 24 hour break is in no wise sufficient to transition days to nights.

To the company's credit they never challenged me for declining a flight. Management has since changed at my local base, and is not tolerant of missing flights for any reason regarding the requirement to show uo well rested as the rule, regardless.

Lacking any fomal method of appraising my mental capability, I used the rule that if I had to read the weather reports twice before accepting dispatch, I would decline the flight I also attemptd to evaluate my medical crew's status and would decline on my authoority if i judged they were not at full capability, they wee to be included as a resource to maximize safety

[SASless]

Jim,

I worked for an outfit that had us on a "24 On/72 Off" roster with training and admin chores being done on your time off.

We did have a sleep period in that 24 hour work period....where our response time remained the same but no training or routine patrol flights would be made.

Our response time from Call Out (Klaxon sounding) to airborne was two minutes.....try that from a tired sound sleep!

The Weather check consisted of the Lights on a Mast a quarter of a mile away. (200' and 1/4 Statute Mile)

[tottigol]

......I also attemptd to evaluate my medical crew's status and would decline on my authoority if i judged they were not at full capability....

Oh boy! Was that at vendor based or “community based” program?
At my program that would have warranted a “face to face” with the program CEO before you were escorted out.

[SASless]

The "Terrible Twiins" in San Antonio would never have stood for a mere pilot to question their fitness for duty!

You would have been gone like a shot....as were about a dozen pilots in a very short time.

That was one of the places where you did not put your name on your Helmet as you were just wasting time and paint.

[Devil 49]

Oh boy! Was that at vendor based or “community based” program?
At my program that would have warranted a “face to face” with the program CEO before you were escorted out.

Community based. The situation never arose except after a very, very busy day. No consequences in my 14 years.