The results of fatigue have been long underestimated in my opinion. Human performance issues are very much part of almost every accident sequence and they must be part of our risk management and accident prevention programs.

We all need sleep, usually around 8 hours for the 16 hours awake a day. Periods with out sleep, plus mental or physical work and or circadian rhythm upsets make us fatigued. Legislation is needed to ensure pilots are not working fatigued.

We usually get more non-REM sleep in the first part of the night and this is a time for body restoration. In the second half we usually get more REM sleep and this is our mental restoration time. We need body and mind restoration to perform well and stay healthy. Pilots need to arrive at work without sleep debt and manage their sleep well.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has passed a fairly new standard with the purpose that the State shall have a Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) based on scientific evidence.

Ask your aviation authority and airline where your FRMS is and ensure it is implemented.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has just passed new legislation concerning fatigue. Unfortunately, freighter operations were excluded after a lobby by freight companies that it would destroy their business. I seem to remember the same argument when slavery abolishment was being fought over. How sad it is when profit takes precedence over a good safety initiative? It’s OK to kill freight pilots then is it?

Stick with the Flight and Duty Agreement when you have a mature one and make sure fatigue is on the professional safety agenda and not the industrial one. Two hours sleep loss leads to a productivity decrease of 17% and 4 hours sleep loss and productivity loss of 43%. Judgment becomes clouded, so to speak. Fatigue can result in illnesses.

To really get a handle on the detrimental effects of fatigue we can relate the human performance issues to alcohol consumption. 18 hours of no sleep has similar human performance degradation as having a few drinks and a blood alcohol count of 0.05 which is our legal driving limit on the roads and way over what we are allowed to fly with as pilots. 23 hours with no sleep is like having a blood alcohol count of 0.12. Guys have sat in jail, and rightly so, for being way under this limit.

Jeffrey Good from the FAA did a fatigue study which showed that the proportion of accidents associated with pilots having longer duty periods is higher that the proportion of longer duty periods for all pilots. There is a discernable pattern of increased probability of an accident as duty time increases for commercial pilots in the USA. (I am sure the study could apply to us in the rest of the world too).

So many accidents occur after poor decision-making and of course fatigue is an issue that affects good decision making big time. There are many detrimental effects on our body and work, such as the increase in negative mood and the decrease in a positive mood, poor coordination and motor skills and the inability to address and implement measures when a problem is recognized, if correctly recognized and assessed at all!

Managing fatigue at a personal, corporate and State level is vital for aviation.

Is it OK to kill freighter pilots?

The Telegraph Luxury

5 Tips for getting the perfect guest on your podcast

I have control

I used to be a banker but I lost interest