Long Day For Corporate Air (AA Connection) J32 Crew

[nimtz]

Just for accuracy sake, the crew in AA1420 was pushing the 14 hour contractual duty limit, not the 16 hour FAA limit. The Board did cite fatigue as a factor in their performance.

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And as I recall they didn't have the fuel to hold and let the weather pass, so the choice was divert and risk running past 16 hours. It was a sh!tty night all across the South without alot of options. That's quite a mess to have a full planeload of people at an outstation stuck for the night with no means to get them out of the airline's hair. Heady stuff to weighing in on without even considering whether or not you're fatigued.

 

[Dumbledore]

There was already another crash several years ago in LIT where they were trying to get in after an approx. 14 hour duty day. Absolutely nothing was done to change duty times then. I don't expect anything to be done now.
Those that make the rules don't face them. It's real easy to fly a desk, having never flown Part 121, and feel that a 14 hour duty day is perfectly O.K.

Yeah, but they were able to pin that one on the lack of recent experience on the part of the captain combined with a new FO.

Pilots don't need sleep anyway! How are airlines supposed to make money and remain solvent if their pilots can't stay awake for 27 hours a day?