A warning: Pilot fatigue remains one of the biggest dangers in our skies (усталость пилотов - серьёзная опасность в полётах!)
Рейтинг:
/ 0
15 January 2013_ http://travelblog.dailymail.co.uk/2013/01/pilot-fatigue-remains-one-of-the-biggest-dangers-in-our-skies.html
Posted by Dr Simon Bennett, Director of the University of Leicester’s Civil Safety and Security Unit
This year the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will agree new flight-time limitations (FTLs) for pilots. FTLs govern how long a pilot can work.
Flying in today’s congested airspace is physically and psychologically demanding. It is important that FTLs are not so lax that pilots over-extend themselves. Safety should be the EASA’s primary objective.
Incidents and accidents have the potential to cause death, injury, psychological hurt and reputational damage to an industry that creates wealth and opportunity - especially in the United Kingdom. Many consider EASA’s proposal to relax FTLs a threat to safety. Night-time flying is problematic because pilots have to work through the ‘circadian low’ when reactions slow and the desire for sleep becomes overwhelming. Despite these risks, EASA proposes to increase the night-work limit from ten to eleven hours. There are numerous other relaxations.
Britain’s FTLs are amongst the most stringent. Nevertheless, my research proves that pilots can find themselves flying an aircraft many hours after waking. Based on 130 pilot sleep diaries (kept for three weeks) and 433 questionnaires, my research shows that by the time they completed their shift over 20 per cent of respondents had been awake for 28 hours or more. Research proves that judgment is seriously impaired after eighteen hours of wakefulness. (How well do you think you could drive after being awake for eighteen hours?).
Even Britain’s FTLs take no account of prior wakefulness, the duration and quality of sleep or commuting. FTLs are dissociated from the realities of life – despite the fact that those realities affect performance. Nearly 50% of respondents took over 60 minutes to commute to work. Over 10% took 90 minutes or more. FTLs stand apart from what I call ‘lived reality’.
Lawmakers take no interest in the world beyond the airport perimeter. When pressed they retort: “We have no knowledge of any rule violations”. Violations are not the issue. The issue is the fidelity of FTLs. Those who represent the industry remain aloof. “Flying time is a matter for the UK Authorities,” says the British Air Transport Association.
The aviation industry is volatile. In debt due to training fees, novice pilots struggle. Properties in airport catchments are expensive. Hard-up pilots commute long distances. Long commutes add to the fatigue generated by flying multiple trips through congested airspace. The new regulations must take account of the fatigue-inducing aspects of modern living. In a recent survey 43% of British airline pilots admitted to falling asleep while flying. Of those 43%, a further 31% said they had woken up to find their colleague asleep.
Regulations made without reference to lived reality are dangerous. The industry has created a ‘pilot diaspora’. FTLs take no account of this. Passenger safety is threatened. The committed women and men who work at the coalface of aviation deserve better. Aviation is something this country does well. Let’s not betray a great industry.
