USA Today:"Sleep Inertia" caused crash.

[Citjok]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-11-18-airindia18_ST_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

 

[densoo]

The senior pilot of an Air India jet that crashed in May was asleep for most of the flight and then made critical errors because he was disoriented after waking up, according to Indian news reports.
The crash on May 22 in Mangalore, India, killed 158 people after the jet overran the runway and plunged off a cliff.

Capt. Zlatko Glusica was captured loudly snoring on a cockpit recorder, the accident investigation found, according to the Hindustan Times.

After waking, Glusica did not respond when his co-pilot H.S. Ahluwalia repeatedly urged him to abort the landing.

Well, at least in this case there was an excuse for the captain to ignore the FO.

 

[CesnaCaptn]

So much for the FAA ever allowing controlled rest like they do in other countries.

 

[Jetjockey]

No, no. the ATA which represents the airlines says there is NO need for rest rule changes. Everything is fine the way it is.

 

[Phrogs4ever]

So much for the FAA ever allowing controlled rest like they do in other countries.

I think this helps our case. Controlled sleep is done at cruise. This almost reads like the guy had slept through descent and was on the approach when he was finally awaken. Details are sketchy, but this sounds more like a flight leadership/cultural problem than a rest issue. How many pilots do you know would continue to call for an abort if the Captain is still half asleep without taking controls? Korean Air had the same contributing factors with some of their accidents; first officers were too afraid to do what was necessary at the time because they were taught to fear and obey the Captain.