ThisistheDream
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2004
- Posts
- 293
Commuting is not the issue with any fatigue or being over tired than normal, its the fact that the FAA feels being on duty for 16 hours straight is okay!!!!! I used to commute, but now that I am home with a family that has a 5yr old, 3 yr old and a new born in the house. I get 5 to 6 hours of sleep a night if I am lucky which is something i am sure alot of other pilots deal with also. The issue that causes the pilots fatigue is that they are sometimes scheduled to work for 10 upto 16 hours in one day!! In a perfect world we all would get good sleep and have no distractions, but thats will never happen the only way to insure that pilots are rested when there skills are tested is to make sure that when they are faced with night icing conditions in blowing snow, or dealing with an engine failure, they are not dealing with this task while going on the 12th, 13th,14th, 15th or 16th hour of being on duty!!! the normal 40 hours a week job will have you be on duty maybe 9 hours a day and once in awhile they need you to stay an extra hour or two and all they do is sit at a desk etc..The FAA should lower the maximum amout of time pilots can wbe on duty by reducing it to 10 or 11 max, with no exceptions..This would help increase safety related issues to fatigue. Even if you had 12 hours of perfect sleep the night before you start your trip and on the last leg of the night landing in MDW, blowing snow with ICE going past 11 or 12 hours of duty, fatigue will also become another issue you will have to deal by no fault of your own since you got 12 hours of great sleep the night before. The reason your now dealing with fatigue and being overtired and lacking in better attention is the fault of the FAA allowing you to do it!!! Some companies have lower times in the contract maybe 14 or 14.5 hrs max but that is still too many hours to be on duty.. Pilots will have to start calling in fatigued more to make it safer. If you worked a 9-6 job and had to work a 14.5 hour day, you wouldnt be done until 1130pm !!!!!!!!! 9am to 1130 PM are you kidding me those people would go home well before that and they dont have lives in there hands!! Even if we are responsible and commute in the night before, get 12 hours of sleep and then 14.5 hours later trying to land while tired and fatigued its the FAA and the airline that is being irresponsible to us and the passengers
Last edited: