rest period

[snow-back]

When you talk about duty day, do you mean flying for #hours or do you count time on ground also? and does one weigh more than the other in terms of importance for a required rest (ie should doing a trip east coast to west and back, flying 8 hours, being on duty for about 12 hours have more bearing than doing a 1 hr flight sitting for 7-8 hours and flying 1hr back for a total duty day of 12 hours?) Should these days require the same amount of required rest after they are completed before the next trip or day can be started?

MJ,

What are you looking for? Are you trying to apply flight/duty times for your department or just comparing different flight departments? Are you trying to make a good argument for duty limits (search fatigue in the NTSB database)? There's another forum with a world of pro pilots :erm: that has a good corporate section where you might glean some good info. I hope any of the above helps.

 

[matthewjohn]

I am trying to make a caes for duty limits for our department. Right now it is up to the pilots to self police themselves for required rest and make sure they are OK to fly. I am told that this is what NBAA recommends but I have not confirmed that. How can a pilot know if they need rest most of the time. Most pilots I know are not lazy and want to get the job done, So much to the extent that I think they might be going beyond their capability and not know it cause nothing happened. An situation in our operation is that we often do an hour flight sit 8-9 hrs and fly one hour back for a total duty day of 12 hours. We currently say that the crew could "rest" while on the ground and that therer neednot be a "required minimum rest period" after that day. This situation does not happen often, but it has and it would be nice to know how other departments handle duty time and required rest.

Please keep all input coming.
Thanks

 

[G100driver]

MJ:

During those down time are you hanging out at the FBO or going to a hotel room. This is a very effective way increase duty time without compromising safety.

The NBAA certainly does not recommend that each decide what is best for him or herself as far as a duty day is required. They are members of the Flight Safety Foundation which sets up strict guidlines.

For more info, go here: http://www.flightsafety.org/home.html

As for minimum rest after a flight, yes there is a need. There is nothing worse than a tired pilot who "thinks" he is rested. We are our own worst judges of ourselves. This is why policy and procedures are in effect.

Good luck with structuring a mature and safe flight department.

 

[snow-back]

I agree with G100. Having a long rest period at a hotel can increase your effective duty day. In the 121 world, an 8 or 9 hour break may actually reset your duty day so a pilot could effectively start over. You mention a rest period following duty. In my opinion, this is just as important as a defined max duty day. Having a max 12 hour duty day doesn't do much good if you get in from one trip at 2200 only to launch the next morning at 0600. As far as self-policing, it's self-defeating. Without defined limits through an SOP or other policy, there will always be the temptation to push limits. Several groups have been studied (doctors, pilots, truck drivers, etc.) and it's been shown that fatigue and alcohol consumption have similar effects on a person such as slowing reaction times, impairing judgment and decreasing attention.

Good luck.