hell yeah

1. Fatigue
AS 408
Flight Safety
Erran Sweeney

2. Fatigue
 What is it?
 What is the FAA definition?
 What causes it?
 What are the symptoms?
 What are the consequences?

3. Webster’s Dictionary
 fa-tigue (fə teg΄), n., adj., v., --tigued,
--ti-guing. --n.
 1. weariness from bodily or mental
exertion

4. The FAA’s Take:
“one of the most treacherous
hazards to flight safety”
 Acute
 Chronic

5. Riddle’s Take
Acute
Chronic

6. Causes
 Lack of restful sleep  Strenuous activity
 Dehydration  Hypoxia
 Noise and vibration  Boredom
 Illness  Unresolved stress

7. Sleep
 Four basic stages
 REM sleep
 Quality vs. quantity

8. Stage 1
 Time between wakefulness and
drowsiness
 Brain waves slow down as body relaxes
 Body temp., respiration and pulse slow
 Sleeper is easily awakened
 Lasts 1 – 10 minutes

9. Stage 2
 Brain activity increases slightly
 Body relaxes further as functions slow
 Breathing becomes slow and steady
 Sleeper is easily awakened (but may
deny having been asleep)
 Lasts about 10 minutes

10. Stage 3
 Body is almost totally at rest
 Respiration and pulse very slow
 Sleeper is difficult to awaken
 Considered transitional phase
 Lasts about 5 minutes

11. Stage 4
 Body is completely relaxed
 Brain activity very slow
 Appears similar to unconsciousness
 Sleeper is very difficult to awaken
 Lasts between 30 – 45 minutes

12. REM sleep
 Characterized by rapid eye movements
 Pulse and blood pressure fluctuate
 Muscles may start to twitch
 Signifies shallowing of sleep cycle as
sleeper returns to Stage 1
 Starts at 60 minutes into sleep cycle, can
last 10 – 30 minutes

13. The power nap

14. The power nap
 Stages 1 & 2, (1 – 25 minutes)
Sleeper awakens easily, feels
refreshed
 Stages 3 & 4, (25 – 60 minutes)
Sleeper hard to rouse, wakes feeling
groggy or more sleepy

15. Fatigue Symptoms
 Feeling of  Impaired judgment
indifference  Poor decision making
 Increased reaction  Being easily
time distracted
 Inability to multi-task  Loss of initiative
 Fixation  Decreased visual
 Short-term memory perception
loss

16. FAR 121.471
 “Flight time limitations and rest
requirements: All flight crewmembers”
 Limits total hours, by time period
 Stipulates required rest periods
 Defines “rest”
 Originally based on scheduled time,

17. The Whitlow Letter
 November 2000
 Interpreted by FAA Deputy Chief
Counsel James Whitlow
 Now requires 8 hour “look-back” rest
 If not, flight may not depart

18. Consequences
 Case in point: Capt. Don Simonds vs.
Pan American Airways
 Jan 3, 2001 – Capt. refuses flight based
on FAR 121.471(b)
 Summarily fired for insubordination
 Failed to follow company’s “fly now,
grieve later” policy

19. Consequences
Go! Airlines, Feb. 13, 2008
•30 minute flight
•Out of ATC contact, 25 minutes
•Overshot Hilo by 15 miles

20. Consequences
Source: PPDRDG

21. Conclusion
 Fatigue is a human factor…
 It does not discriminate…
 It CAN happen to you!

22. References
 ABC News, “Two Sleeping Pilots, One Plane?”
 Air Safety Link, “Court Upholds ‘Whitlow Letter’ 16-hour Duty Limit”
 ALPA, www.alpa.org, “ALPA Wins Court Reinstatement of Pilot Terminated for
Following FAA Rules on Rest Requirements”
 Basic Flight Physiology, Third Edition, Reinhart, Dr. Richard O.,
 14 CFR 121.471
 The Provisional Peoples’ Democratic Republic of Diego Garcia,
www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/links.html