Nothing wrong with a little power nap - is there?
 

Four out of ten airline pilots admit to nodding off in-flight - of whom one third have awoken to find their co-pilot also sleeping

Plane terrifying: The passenger jet pilots falling asleep in the cockpit... when in sole charge of the aircraft | Mail Online

Old news but always great fun to read!

As you say, old news. Some of the sectors are so long one has to have a power nap!

What is needed are "cockpit monitors" - inexpensive crew members who can work in shifts and who are trained to listen out for the aircraft's call sign on the relevant frequencies while sitting at the back of the flight deck. If anything urgent crops up they can then wake one or both crew. Otherwise the flight crew should be left to rest so that by the time the landing comes they are refreshed and not exhausted.

Totally agree.. Employ a couple of min wage plebs. That will sort out the safety aspect.:ugh::ugh:

- Andrew Mitchell has some spare time at the moment - he'll do for one.

My lot call them TRSS

Wake up call.
 

Anthony Supplebotton Quote "What is needed are "cockpit monitors" - inexpensive crew members...."

I think that they are called Second Officers. But some operators use them as cheap labour in the right hand seat - without even a full type rating!

Well, I don't know if it was just me or the crew members I flew with, but I flew many, many, many trips, ORD-HNL [9hrs] and HNL-ORD [8hrs (all-niter)] and don't recall me or anyone else EVER taking a "powernap". No excuse to be taking naps enroute while "on duty" !!

Seems we need to return to the good old days of the Superman robot pilot who could stay awake for days and bed the entire crew on one layover. Humans need not apply. :ooh:

Afaik train drivers have to push a certain button in certain time intervals to make sure they are not asleep and if they stopp pushing it the train will automatically brake and come to a stop.

Doesn't something similiar exist in airplane cockpits? Having an alarm sound going off to wake the pilots if they stop showing activity after a certain time period?

napping is NOT right
 

IF you are a required crew member and are on the flight deck in the performance of your duties you should not be napping.

I've been a pilot since 1975. IF a plane requires two pilots...it means two pilots that are AWAKE, alert, vigilent and performing their duties.

Yes it's "Terrain Terrain"

time to move to JB

And what? Put on the brakes and land the plane?

Pilots are in the air for pretty low maximum hours compared to bus,train and coach drivers. The least I would expect is they could be conscious. Power naps are for on the ground, in bed and after the CC...

My train driver mate tells me that putting his navbag on top of the dead man's pedal works a treat for when he wants to catch some zzzzzz's. :D

That is why we have rest rules. Pilots get paid a lot of money to be safe and competent when on duty. It is our responsibility to be alert throughout the flight.

I know it is hard to prepare for an all nighter rested because I couldn't when I had to do them. Sleeping on duty is not the solution.

Napping is an approved method. Deep sleep for more than 45 minutes on the flight deck is not. Napping is absolutely needed in today's 11:45 night duty limit, seven days in a row. And of course when the usual irregular duty pattern totally disrupts ones sleeping pattern so that a normal night day rhythm with a normal consecutive seven to eight hour sleep is only achievable after several weeks off work.

Lorry and train drivers in the EU have much tighter regulation of their duty hours, remember two pilot crews can legally be planned for up to 14 hour duties, with discretion up to 15 hours. With three pilots that increases to 18 and 21 hours. Split duty with two pilots can be planned to 18 hours with just a three our break in there.

Did plenty of napping. There is an approved method called controlled rest in the cockpit as well. Always wide awake for the descent.

It may have worked for you but it isn't legal so why encourage pilots to do something illegal?

"....He then had to use a code to get back into the cockpit and found his second-in-command slumped over the controls..."

Finally, a downside to the Boeing yoke?

Look at what happened to the AF crew. They were awake and lost their aircraft.

Wang, you are reaching.